Xi Jinping has told Donald Trump that the United States should rescind its “negative measures” against China and conduct trade talks in a spirit of mutual respect.
The two leaders spoke on Thursday for the first time since January, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that the call was at Mr Trump’s request.
The Chinese report said the leaders discussed the trade negotiations that began in Geneva last month but have stalled in recent days as each side accused the other of reneging on the agreement they made there.
Washington imposed new restrictions on exports of semiconductors to China and Beijing responded by halting the sale of rare earth minerals to the US.
“After the Geneva talks, China seriously implemented the agreement. The US side should look at the progress made to seek truth from facts and rescind its negative measures against China. The two sides should enhance exchanges in foreign affairs, trade, military, law enforcement and other fields to increase consensus, reduce misunderstandings and strengthen co-operation,” the Chinese readout said.
Mr Trump confirmed the call later in a post on social media, describing it as “a very good phone call” during which he and Mr Xi discussed “some of the intricacies” of the agreement made in Geneva. He said the call lasted about one-and-a-half hours, adding that it produced a positive conclusion for both countries.
“There should no longer be any questions regarding the complexity of rare earth products,” he said.
Mr Trump has been talking about an imminent call with Mr Xi for weeks but Thursday’s call was the first time the two men had spoken since January. Mr Trump said that Chinese and US negotiators would meet again soon, with the American delegation led by treasury secretary Scott Bessent, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer.
“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,” he said
“The conversation was focused almost entirely on trade. Nothing was discussed concerning Russia/Ukraine or Iran.”
According to the Chinese readout, however, the two leaders discussed Taiwan and Mr Xi said the US should handle the issue carefully and not allow what he called a handful of separatists to drag Beijing and Washington into a dangerous confrontation.
It said that Mr Trump said he very much respects Mr Xi, is pleased to see the Chinese economy maintaining strong growth and that the US would continue to pursue a One China policy.
Mr Trump also told Mr Xi that the US welcomed Chinese students studying there, despite secretary of state Marco Rubio warning last week that Chinese students’ visas would be revoked. There were about 277,000 Chinese nationals studying in the US last year and their fees are an important revenue source for many universities.
