China says in close communication with U.S. over October trade talks

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is in close communication with the United States and is preparing to make progress at trade talks in October, the commerce ministry in Beijing said on Thursday.

Chinese firms have made significant purchases of U.S. soybeans and pork, said ministry spokesman Gao Feng, adding that those purchases were exempt from tariffs.

The countries' trade negotiators are expected to meet in Washington in about two weeks to determine if they can start to chart a path out of their bruising trade war or are headed for new and higher tariffs on each others' goods.

(Reporting by Yawen Chen and Ryan Woo; editing by John Stonestreet)