American President Donald Trump stated that the phone conversation he had on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping focused on trade and ended „very well,” agreeing to continue negotiations between their countries to resolve divergences related to customs duties, which have disrupted the global economy, as well as rare minerals from China.
„The conversation almost entirely focused on trade. Nothing was discussed regarding Russia/Ukraine or Iran,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network after the discussion that lasted about an hour and a half.
Trump also mentioned that his teams and those of the Chinese leader will meet "soon," at a location yet to be determined, to discuss customs tariffs, as reported by Reuters and AFP.
The Chinese leader's invitation to Trump
He also assured that there "should no longer be questions" regarding access to Chinese rare minerals, a significant point of friction between the two superpowers.
In addition, Donald Trump announced that Xi Jinping "kindly invited" him to visit China together with his wife, Melania, and that, in turn, he invited the Chinese President to the United States.
Trump and Xi have met on several occasions, including in reciprocal visits in 2017, but have not faced each other since the discussions in 2019 in Osaka, Japan.
The Xi-Trump discussion was announced earlier on Thursday by the official Chinese agency Xinhua, which specified that it took place at Trump's request.
What Xi conveyed to Trump
Xi told Trump that dialogue and cooperation are the only correct choice for China and the United States, and that, to correct the course of the "great ship" of China-US relations, it is necessary for both parties to follow the right direction and eliminate any disruptions and even sabotage.
He also urged the parties to take advantage of the existing economic and trade consultation mechanism, as reported by Xinhua.
"The American side should adopt a realistic view of the progress made and withdraw the negative measures imposed on China," stated the Chinese government in a communication published by the official agency.
According to AFP, the conversation took place against a backdrop of strong trade and diplomatic tensions between the two superpowers, accusing each other of endangering the trade truce negotiated last month in Geneva.
Under President Trump, under whom the US took a decisive protectionist turn, a new moment of tension with China arose on Friday, accusing Beijing of not respecting the terms of the trade truce negotiated by the two parties on May 12.
The US and China had reached an agreement to temporarily suspend the escalation that had raised customs duties on American products to 125% and on Chinese products to 145%.
After two days of negotiations, they agreed to temporarily reduce tariffs to 30% and 10%, respectively, committing to continue discussions towards a trade agreement.