🔗 Share this article

President Donald Trump has stated that he agreed to go to Beijing in the month of April and asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for a diplomatic trip in the coming year, after a telephone conversation between the two leaders.

Trump and Xi—who convened recently in Korea—discussed a variety of topics including trade, the Ukraine conflict, fentanyl, and Taiwan, as stated by the former president and China's foreign ministry.

"Bilateral relations is very robust!" Trump wrote in a social media update.

Beijing's press outlet issued a comment that said both nations should "maintain progress, proceed in the correct path on the basis of equality, esteem and common gain".

Prior Engagement and Economic Agreements

The leaders held discussions in Busan, South Korea in the fall, subsequently they reached a ceasefire on import duties. The US opted to reduce a 20% tariff in half aimed at the flow of opioids.

Duties remain on products from China and stand at just below 50%.

"From that point, the China-US relationship has mostly kept a stable and upward path, and this is welcomed by the two countries and the broader international community," the Chinese statement noted.

• America then withdrew a potential imposition of full extra duties on products, while Beijing put off its scheme to introduce its new set of restrictions on rare earths.

Commerce Discussions

The administration's spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated that the recent conversation with Xi—which took around 60 minutes—was focused on trade.

"The U.S. is happy with what we've observed from the Beijing, and they share that sentiment," she said.

Additional Issues

In addition to talking about trade, Xi and Trump raised the topics of the conflict in Ukraine and the Taiwan situation.

Xi informed Trump that the island's "reunification with China" is vital for Beijing's perspective for the "post-war international order".

China has been engaged in a foreign policy clash with the Japanese government, a American partner, over the longstanding "strategic ambiguity" on the control of the independently administered island.

Earlier this month, Tokyo's head Sanae Takaichi stated that any assault from Beijing on Taiwan could compel a Japanese military response.

Trump, but, did not mention the Taiwan issue in his Truth Social post about the discussion.

America's envoy to Tokyo, George Glass, had earlier stated that the United States stands with the Japanese in the aftermath of Beijing's "pressure".