Prez Trump says he and Xi will meet at APEC, he’ll go to China
Washington: US President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a regional summit to take place at the end of October in South Korea and that he would visit China in the “early part of next year,” following a phone call the leaders shared on Friday.
In a Truth Social post, Trump also said the Chinese leader would come to the United states “at an appropriate time,” noting the leaders also approved a TikTok deal.
“The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!,” Trump wrote, referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a grouping of 21 economies on the Pacific Rim.
China’s official news agency Xinhua said Xi, in the call, stressed the importance of the bilateral ties and urged the US side to avoid against any
unilateral trade restrictions from the US. This is the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White House and launched sky-high
tariffs on China, triggering back-and-forth trade restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies. But Trump, a Republican, has expressed willingness to negotiate trade deals with Beijing, notably for TikTok, which faces a US ban unless its Chinese parent company sells its controlling stake.
The two men also spoke in June to defuse tensions over China’s restrictions on the export of rare earth elements, used in everything from smartphones to fighter jets.
“I’m speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with TikTok and also trade,” Trump said Thursday. “And we’re very close to deals on all of it.” He said his relationship with China is “very good” but noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine could end if European countries put higher tariffs on China. Trump didn’t say if he planned to raise tariffs on Beijing over its purchase of Moscow’s oil, as he has done with India.
aThe Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday didn’t confirm any upcoming summit between the leaders, but spokesperson Liu Pengyu said “heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-US relations.”
