WASHINGTON DC: US President Donald Trump will reportedly visit Beijing in April and meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Politico has reported.
The news outlet cited three people familiar with Trump’s plan, to report that the proposed visit will be US president’s first visit to China during his second term
The Politico report did not give the finalized dates of Trump’s Beijing visit.
In a recent interview with NBC News’ Tom Llamas , Trump said that he will visit China in April. “I’m gonna be going there in April then he’s coming here toward the end of the year,” Trump said.
When asked further on his China visit, the US President in the NBC News interview taped on February 4 said, “He’s coming to the White House, toward the end of the year. We have a very good relationship. And, you know, it’s important that I have a good relationship and for him, that he has a good relationship with me. We have to have a good — these are the two most powerful countries in the world and we have a very good relationship.”
Incidentally, Trump and Xi had a 90-minute telephonic conversation on February 4.
Trump said the call focused almost entirely on trade, without touching on other geopolitical issues like Iran and Ukraine. The call “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Further, Trump wrote, “During the conversation, President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look forward to doing.”
China’s state media Xinhua reported that in the call Xi noted that he attaches great importance to China-U.S. relations, saying that over the past year, he and Trump have enjoyed sound communication, and had a successful meeting in Busan, charting the direction and course for China-US relations.
During the call, Xi called for the United States and China to “seek win-win results in the spirit of equality and respect each other’s concerns,” while urging Washington to “remove the negative measures taken against China,” according to a readout from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Recalibrating the direction of the giant ship of China-US relations requires us to take the helm and set the right course,” Xi told his US counterpart.
CNN had previously reported that after the talks in Geneva the US had expected China to to ease export restrictions on rare earth minerals, which had been imposed in April in retaliation against Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods.
But the restrictions haven’t been lifted, causing intense displeasure inside the Trump administration and prompting a recent series of measures imposed on China, three administration officials told CNN last week.
Beijing, meanwhile, has bristled as Washington warned companies against using AI chips made by China’s national tech champion Huawei, moved to limit critical technology sales to China and announced that the US would “aggressively revoke visas” for Chinese students in the US with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields, the US broadcasting network said. (ANI)
