The Chinese government announced Tuesday that 696 items imported from the United States will be exempted from the additional tariffs for one year, including pork, soybeans and liquefied natural gas.

The move announced by the State Council's Customs Tariff Commission, effective March 2, comes after the United States last Friday rolled back some of the punitive tariffs it has imposed amid its trade war with China, as an interim trade deal between the two countries took effect the same day.

The latest development comes as China wrestles with the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has hit economic activity in the country and the region.

Based on the "phase one" deal, the United States halved the 15 percent tariff rates imposed on $120 billion of Chinese imports in exchange for Beijing's commitment to purchase substantially more U.S. products and strengthen its intellectual property protections.

But the coronavirus outbreak has created uncertainty as to whether China will be able to buy additional U.S. goods and services to the targeted level.

China has agreed to boost its purchases of U.S. goods and services over the next two years by at least $200 billion, including $32 billion on agriculture alone, in a move that is expected to help the United States reduce its trade deficit with the Asian country.

China has also promised to pursue financial services liberalization, while committing to address allegations of forced technology transfer and currency manipulation to boost exports.

The United States, however, will maintain a tariff rate of 25 percent for approximately $250 billion of Chinese imports -- roughly half the amount China sold to the United States in 2018.

The move means that $370 billion of Chinese goods will continue to be affected by punitive levies imposed by the United States since the tit-for-tat trade war started in July 2018.

China, for its part, had already said it would lower tariffs on about $75 billion worth of goods imported from the United States, effective last Friday.