President Donald Trump said on Saturday he’d spoken at length with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that “big progress” is being made toward a deal between the world’s largest economies.
The agreement will be “very comprehensive” and will cover “all subjects, areas and points of dispute,” the president, who’s spending the weekend in Washington, said in a tweet.
Trump’s comment comes as a U.S. trade delegation prepares to travel to Beijing in early January for talks with Chinese officials. It’s another sign that tensions may be cooling after months of brinkmanship, and that the leaders are following through on commitments made at their dinner meeting in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1.
Xi said both he and Trump hope to push for “stable progress” in U.S.-China relations, and that bilateral ties are now at a vital stage, according to a Xinhua News Agency report on the leaders’ phone call.
Xi added that he and Trump discussed various international and regional issues, that China supports further talks between the U.S. and North Korea, and hopes for positive results, Xinhua reported.
It was unclear who initiated Saturday’s call. The White House, which typically doesn’t release details of Trump’s calls with foreign leaders beyond what the president reveals himself, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that a U.S. government delegation will travel to Beijing in the week of Jan. 7 for talks, according to two people familiar with the pl
