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Donald Trump held his first phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, with the two leaders discussing the future of TikTok shortly before the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app in the US.
The conversation between the leaders was the first in four years and came just two days before the law went into effect, forcing app stores to stop offering it to users.
“I just spoke with Chairman Xi Jinping of China. “The call was very good to China and the USA,” Trump wrote on his Real News platform on Friday. “We discussed Commerce, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and secure! “
Chinese media confirmed the call on Friday, but gave no details, including any discussion about TikTok. TrumpThe incoming national security team has been in contact with Beijing, but the call between the Chinese leader and the incoming US president marks the first direct conversation between the men in four years.
The call comes three days before Trump is to be inaugurated at an event to be attended by Chinese vice president Han Zheng, marking the first time a top Chinese official has attended an American event.
I Financial Times report Last week Xi sent a delegation to Washington after Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.
Some Trump advisers hoped Beijing would send Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who is closer to Xi and more powerful than Han, who sometimes represents Xi in ceremonial roles.
Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of China policy Trump will unveil at the start of his administration. He has threatened to impose tariffs on China and many other countries but it is not clear whether he will do so to gain negotiating power with Beijing or whether he will start negotiations on a possible trade deal with China and use tariffs if negotiations fail.
The conversation comes two days before US app stores are forced to stop carrying TikTok, the video app downloaded by more than 170 million Americans. The law – upheld in a Supreme Court decision Friday morning – bans the app unless its Chinese owner ByteDance sells the platform.
Trump has expressed support for TikTok, raising questions about whether his administration will prosecute companies that break the law.
US-China relations they fell to their lowest level since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979 during the Biden administration on issues ranging from US export controls to differences in Taiwan.
While Biden and Xi have succeeded in stabilizing relations over the past year, the countries remain at odds over a range of issues, including China's support for Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Trump has named several China hawks to serve in his administration, including Mike Waltz as US national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Scott Bessent, the nominee for Treasury secretary, said this week that Trump would push China to buy US agricultural products, such as corn and soybeans that were part of the tight trade deal he struck with China last time.
Bessent said Trump would be aggressive in imposing export controls that would affect China. Beijing has often criticized the Biden administration for introducing strict export controls on chips and technology related to artificial intelligence in an effort to slow the modernization of the People's Liberation Army.
But Chinese experts are watching closely to see if some of the tech billionaires in Trump's orbit, such as Elon Musk, will try to convince the incoming president to take tougher measures on the matter.