Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China and the United States can jointly shoulder responsibility as major countries, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of their two countries and the whole world.
President Xi made the remarks during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump after he landed in Busan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), ahead of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju and his state visit to the ROK.
The in-person talks came after three phone conversations and several exchanges of letters between the two presidents since Trump was re-elected.
President Xi said the latest round of China-U.S. consultation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the two economic and trade teams reached consensus on solving various issues, has provided the necessary conditions for the meeting.
“Dialogue is better than confrontation,” he said. China and the U.S. should maintain communication through various channels and at various levels to enhance mutual understanding, Xi added.
The Chinese and U.S. presidents agreed to maintain interactions on a regular basis. Trump said he looked forward to visiting China early next year, and invited President Xi to visit the United States.
‘Business should remain anchor for ties’
The relationship between China and the U.S. is widely viewed as the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world, since the two nations, combined, are home to over 40 percent of the global GDP, according to a survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a U.S. think tank.
An annual membership survey from the U.S.-China Business Council, released in July, found that more than 80 percent of American companies doing business in China were profitable last year and said they will remain committed to pursuing opportunities in China over the long term.
Statistics from the United Nations show that the volume of trade in goods between China and the U.S. in 2024 reached $688.28 billion, which was 275 times that of 1979, when diplomatic relations were established. In addition, Chinese statistics ranked the U.S. as its second-largest trade partner in services in 2023 while U.S. data listed China as its fifth-largest services export market.
The business relationship should continue to serve as the anchor and driving force for China-U.S. relations, not a stumbling block or a point of friction, said Xi during Thursday’s talks.
“The two sides should think big and recognize the long-term benefit of cooperation, and must not fall into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation,” he said.
Xi called on the two countries’ economic and trade teams to continue talks in the spirit of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, and continuously shorten the list of problems and lengthen the list of cooperation.
According to a recent CGTN poll, 87 percent of respondents believe China-U.S. economic and trade relations are fundamentally mutually beneficial, and 84.4 percent think closer China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation not only benefits both economies, but also provides a key safeguard for the stability of global industrial and supply chains.
‘China, U.S. should be partners, friends’
During Thursday’s meeting, President Xi emphasized that China’s development and revitalization goes hand in hand with President Trump’s vision to “Make America Great Again.”
China and the U.S. are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together, Xi said.
The findings of the survey by the the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, released on Tuesday, show that 53 percent of Americans now say the U.S. should undertake friendly cooperation and engagement with China, up from 40 percent in 2024.
China and the U.S. should be partners and friends, Xi said. “That is what history has taught us and what reality needs.”
Given different national conditions, the two countries do not always see eye to eye with each other and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then, he said.
In the face of winds, waves and challenges, President Xi said, the two heads of state should stay on the right course, navigate through the complex landscape and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations.
Trump said the U.S. and China have always had a “fantastic” relationship and it will be even better. “We will make both China and the U.S. even better,” he said.
China is the biggest partner of the United States, Trump said. “Together, our two countries can get many great things done for the world and have many years of success.”/CGTN
