Why is US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay a tariff increase due to kick in on October 1, 2019 especially significant? Political economy editors Zhou Xin and John Carter explain the importance of this date in the Chinese calendar and look at the messages back and forth in the run up to the next round of trade talks.

Zhou Xin explains how China’s top negotiators consider these upcoming talks to be on two tracks: trade issues which may be up for discussion and structural and security…