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BEIJING, Jan. 16-- The just-signed China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement has met the expectations of the international community, and will inspire confidence in the world economy and bring stability to global investment and trade, experts and officials have said. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said she sincerely congratulates China and the United States on the signing of the agreement, which injects stability into the two countries and the world economy. It is beneficial not only to the economies of the two countries, but also to the world economy, she added. China and the United States formally signed their phase-one economic and trade agreement in Washington on Wednesday, with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. President Donald Trump inking the papers at the White House. The agreement ranges from expanding bilateral trade in such sectors as agricultural products, manufactured goods, energy, and service, further broadening market access, to enhancing the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. The two sides also agree to establish a bilateral mechanism for two-way assessment and dispute settlement, and the United States has pledged to cancel some of its additional tariffs on Chinese products, marking a policy change from hiking to cutting additional tariffs. The signing of the deal, a hard-won phased outcome for the U.S.-initiated trade tensions with China, is a positive first step for resolving the economic and trade issues between the world's top two economies. | 
