United States President Donald Trump has denied seeking a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, while holding out the possibility of visiting China at his counterpart’s invitation. “The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a ‘Summit’ with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
Trump’s comments come after the Reuters news agency reported last week that aides to the two leaders have discussed a possible summit during a trip to Asia by the US president later this year. The report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the plans, said Trump and Xi could possibly meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit taking place in South Korea from October 30 to November 1.
The US and China are currently engaged in negotiations aimed at lowering trade tensions that have spiked since Trump rolled out his on-again, off-again tariffs on Chinese exports. On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in Stockholm, Sweden, to kick off two days of talks focused on reaching a trade deal before the end of a 90-day tariff truce that ends on August 12.
Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week that the administration was in “a very good place with China now” and the August deadline could be extended in a “90-day increment”. However, experts say that Trump’s protectionist moves are likely to keep pushing countries to lessen their reliance on the US. “Trump’s tariffs have had a limited impact on the global economy so far, but analysts fear the worst is yet to come,” according to a report.
Trump and Xi last met face-to-face in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. The relationship between the two leaders has been strained, with the US and China engaging in a tit-for-tat trade war. Trump’s comments on Monday suggest that he is open to improving relations with China, but only on his own terms.
The trade tensions between the US and China have significant implications for the global economy. The US and China are two of the world’s largest economies, and any disruption to their trade relationship can have far-reaching consequences. The tariffs imposed by Trump have already led to a decline in US imports from China, and experts warn that the situation could worsen if a trade deal is not reached.