'Negative factors' straining US-China ties, Xi tells Donald Trump

The call on Sunday came at the end of a tense week in US-China relations, which analysts said signalled the end of honeymoon period between the two superpowers that began with a summit at Trump's Mar A Lago resort in April, CNN reported.

Xi stressed that since his meeting with President Trump, important results have been achieved in China-US relations, reported Chinese state media outlet CCTV.

The report said bilateral relations have also been affected by some negative factors, on which the Chinese side has expressed its position to the US side.

Trump also spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by phone, with the two pledging deeper cooperation on North Korea in the wake of growing frustrations over the rogue state. Relations between China and the US had warmed up after the two leaders met in February, with Trump even describing Xi as a "terrific person". But in the past week, the US after months of delay approved a $1.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, the same day as China's Dandong Bank was slapped with sanctions for alleged ties to North Korea. The US also labelled China as one of the world's "worst human traffickers" and challenged Beijing in the South China Sea, by sailing close to a disputed chain of islands that China claims.

On June 21, Trump sent a tweet in which he said Chinese efforts on North Korea, while appreciated, had "not worked out". In conversations with Xi and Abe, Trump agreed with both leaders that efforts needed to be made to avoid conflict on the Korean peninsula. According to the White House statement, Trump raised the growing threat of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic arsenals with Xi.