President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 6, 2017.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had “always had a great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that he looked forward to “getting along with China”.
The United States and China “will have a very good relationship,” the president said in a virtual interview At the World Economic Forum, as read by the White House.
“All we want is justice. We just want a level playing field,” Trump said. “But I really like President XI. I've always liked him.”
The newly minted president said earlier this week that maybe Increase duties on Chinese goods by 10% As soon as February 1st. The White House also announced on Monday Plans to investigate China on actions harmful to US trade.
On the campaign trail, Trump raised prohibitive tariffs up 60% on Chinese goods.
Trump also said he hopes to work with China to end the Russia-Ukraine war. “We hope that China will help us stop the war, especially the Russia-Ukraine war. And they have a lot of power over this situation, and we cooperate with them.”
China too emphasized his readiness to negotiate with Washington. The Commerce Department said it has always maintained communication with “appropriate” U.S. authorities regarding the economy and trade.
“China is ready to cooperate with the US to push bilateral economic and trade relations in a stable, sound and balanced direction,” a ministry spokesman said on Thursday, noting that it is on the basis of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and winning cooperation.”
Trump said last week that he had spoken to the Chinese president Xi by phone about Tiktok and trading. The Chinese site's readout did not mention the social media app, but said XI called for cooperation and cast the two countries' economic ties as mutually beneficial.