US President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Friday, days before he is due to take office, and discussed important issues for both countries.
In a phone call on Friday, Xi congratulated Trump on his re-election and said he hoped the two countries would start a new era of positive development under Trump, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The two leaders agreed to keep strategic communication channels open, given the importance of bilateral ties.
They exchanged views on the war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas, and Xi urged the US president-elect to avoid a head-on conflict over the Taiwan issue.
President-elect Trump said he discussed issues such as fair trade, the smuggling of fentanyl, a drug used in the production of drugs, and the ban on the TikTok social media app in the US. He said he and President Xi would do their utmost to make the world a more peaceful and secure place.
The two leaders spoke as Donald Trump vowed to impose tariffs on Chinese goods once he took office. It was the first time since the November presidential election that a foreign leader had attended the inauguration of a US president.
Trump invited Xi to the inauguration on Monday in December, although no foreign leader has ever attended the inauguration. The Chinese government said Vice President Han Zheng would attend as Xi’s special envoy.
