US President Donald Trump declared relations with China were "right back on track" after he and President Xi Jinping sought Saturday, 29 June, to de-escalate a prolonged trade war between the economic powerhouses despite doubts about either's willingness to compromise on a long term solution.
Xinhua, the Chinese state-run news agency, said the leaders had agreed to a new cease-fire in a yearlong trade war, adding that stalled trade talks would resume and the US would hold off on threatened additional tariffs on Chinese goods.
The apparent truce marks a pattern for talks between Trump and Xi, who have professed their friendship with each other and hit the pause button on protectionist measures after their conversations, only to see negotiations later break down over the contentious details.
White House officials declined immediate comment. But President Donald Trump said earlier Saturday that he would make an announcement on the results of his talks with Xi during a news conference later in the day.
Who Said What
Taking place on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan, the meeting with Xi marked the centerpiece of four days of diplomacy for Trump, whose re-election chances have been put at risk by the trade war that has hurt American farmers and battered global markets. Tensions rose in recent weeks after negotiations collapsed last month.
At a subsequent meeting with Turkey's president, Trump said talks with Xi went "probably even better than expected."
"The negotiations are continuing," he said.
Seated across a lengthy table flanked by top aides, both leaders struck a cautiously optimistic tone after they posed for photographs.
"We've had an excellent relationship," Trump told Xi as the meeting opened, "but we want to do something that will even it up with respect to trade."
Xi, for his part, recounted the era of "ping-pong diplomacy" which helped jump-start US-China relations two generations ago. Since then, he said, "one basic fact remains unchanged: China and the United States both benefit from cooperation and lose in confrontation."
"Cooperation and dialogue are better than friction and confrontation," he added.
The meeting with Xi is one of three Trump had lined up Saturday with world leaders displaying authoritarian tendencies.
(This copy has been edited for length and has been published in arrangement with AP.)
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