Donald Trump Announces He Will Visit China in Spring Following Call with Xi Jinping

Placeholder Leaders in Discussion

President Donald Trump has declared that he agreed to go to China's capital in the month of April and extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit next year, after a phone call between the two leaders.

Trump and Xi—who convened nearly a month ago in South Korea—discussed a range of issues including trade, the situation in Ukraine, synthetic drugs, and the island of Taiwan, per the former president and Beijing's diplomatic corps.

"The U.S.-China ties is extremely strong!" Trump posted in a social media update.

Official Chinese media published a comment that said both countries should "keep up the momentum, proceed in the right direction on the basis of fairness, respect and shared interests".

Prior Engagement and Economic Agreements

The leaders held discussions in Busan, South Korea in last October, subsequently they settled on a pause on tariffs. The US opted to cut a import tax in half targeting the movement of opioids.

Trade taxes continue on products from China and stand at nearly 50 percent.

"From that point, the Sino-American ties has mostly kept a steady and positive trajectory, and this is appreciated by the two countries and the broader international community," the Chinese statement noted.

  • The United States then withdrew a threat of full extra duties on China's exports, while the Chinese government put off its intention to enforce its recent phase of restrictions on rare earths.

Economic Emphasis

Official representative Karoline Leavitt commented that the Monday call with Xi—which lasted about an hour—was mainly about commerce.

"The U.S. is happy with what we've observed from the Chinese, and they feel the same way," she said.

Broader Topics

In addition to talking about economic matters, Xi and Trump broached the topics of the Ukraine war and the island.

Xi stated to Trump that Taiwan's "return to China" is essential for the Chinese outlook for the "post-war international order".

China has been engaged in a foreign policy clash with the Japanese government, a US ally, over the enduring "vague stance" on the sovereignty of Taiwan.

In the past few weeks, Tokyo's head Sanae Takaichi stated that an eventual military action by China on Taiwan could compel a Japanese military response.

Trump, however, did not refer to the Taiwan issue in his Truth Social post about the discussion.

America's envoy to Tokyo, George Glass, previously said that the U.S. government supports Tokyo in the context of China's "intimidation".

Shannon Simmons
Shannon Simmons

A tech enthusiast and writer passionate about emerging technologies and their impact on society.