U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he'd just had "very good" talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the growing trade conflict between the two economic giants.
"Just had a long and very good conversation with President Xi Jinping of China. We talked about many subjects, with a heavy emphasis on Trade," Trump tweeted.
Trump said trade talks were "moving along nicely" and that meetings were "being scheduled" at the G20 summit planned in Buenos Aires at the end of this month.
Trump said he and Xi also had "a good discussion on North Korea."
Xi responded to the call by say he hopes China and the U.S. will be able to promote a steady and healthy relationship, Chinese state media reported Thursday.
Xi also said he and Trump expressed hopes to expand bilateral trade cooperation, Xi was quoted as saying on CCTV state television.
In regard to North Korea, Xi said he hopes the U.S. and North Korea will further promote the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and push for peace. He also said China would continue to play a constructive role in the process.
Washington and Beijing are in an increasingly high-stakes standoff over Trump's aggressive move to end what he says have been years of unfair trade practices by China, including rampant intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers and market access barriers.
Trump imposed new tariffs on roughly half of Chinese imports this summer while Beijing fired back with tariffs on most U.S. products.
