By Lingling Wei and Bob Davis 

BEIJING -- China showed a renewed willingness to engage in negotiations with Washington after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed he is considering a trip to China to discuss the countries' escalating trade fight.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry, in a terse statement, said Sunday that Beijing received the message about U.S. interest in coming to Beijing to discuss economic and trade issues. The statement, citing an unnamed spokesman, said, "The Chinese side welcomes this."

The statement followed Mr. Mnuchin's remarks Saturday in Washington that a trip to China is "under consideration." Mr. Mnuchin, who declined to comment on the timing of the trip, also said he is "cautiously optimistic" about reaching an agreement with Beijing that could defuse trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

A restart of formal negotiations between Washington and Beijing could signal a thaw in a trade stalemate that has seen both sides slap tariffs on some goods and threaten to impose them on lengthening lists of each country's products. Tensions between the governments have already affected major technology companies on both sides.

Early this month, President Donald Trump's announcement that he was considering widening the scope of penalties to include an additional $100 billion of Chinese goods brought a vehement response from China's Commerce Ministry, which said it would refuse to negotiate while the U.S. was increasing the pressure over trade.

The U.S. had been expected by American business groups to release by now the items to be hit by tariffs and several Washington lobbyists with strong ties to the administration said the list is largely completed. Delaying the publication of the list could become a way to signal to Beijing that the U.S. is interested in talks -- and as way of encouraging Beijing to keep up the pressure on North Korea over nuclear weapons.

"China has been very helpful on the sanctions with us," Mr. Mnuchin said.

But it is far from clear how long the Trump administration will continue to be restrained on the tariff front. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is in charge of the tariffs, has been spending most of his time lately trying to get a preliminary deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Those efforts will continue this coming week.

The overtures to Beijing reflect ongoing tensions within the administration about how to respond to China, with President Trump listening to both sides.

Mr. Mnuchin is joined by National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow as favoring a softer approach, looking at Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent speech, where he pledged to ease restrictions on foreign autos, as a significant concession, say individuals familiar with the administration deliberations. Others, including White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro, though, favor a tougher line. They argue that Mr. Xi's pledges didn't represent significant liberalization and say the tariffs imposed by China on U.S. agriculture during this trade fight requires a sharp response.

Mr. Lighthizer generally lines up with Mr. Navarro on China, but it isn't clear what specific tactics he currently favors.

The increased prospects of a Mnuchin trip to Beijing marks a new phase in the U.S.-China fight after weeks of rising tension. China has matched the Trump administration moves and kept open the door for dialogue. In late March, China's economic envoy Liu He had exchanged letters with Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Lighthizer, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. At the time, Mr. Mnuchin was weighing a trip to Beijing to talk with Mr. Liu.

Amid the recent tensions, Beijing has also announced new policies and rule changes that would provide greater access by foreign companies to China's financial sector. The Trump administration has savaged Chinese practices it says discriminate against U.S. companies and encourage the transfer and theft of American technology, contributing to a trade imbalance that last year stood at $375.2 billion in China's favor.

Mr. Mnuchin told reporters Saturday that he met with Yi Gang, China's central-bank governor, at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Yi passed along Mr. Mnuchin's message about his interest in coming to Beijing to Mr. Liu, according to people familiar with the matter.

"It's very likely" that the trip will materialize, one of the people said.

Write to Lingling Wei at lingling.wei@wsj.com and Bob Davis at bob.davis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2018 08:20 ET (12:20 GMT)