Trump's visit to 'enhance mutual understanding, trust': Chinese president

Visit shows achieving peaceful coexistence and win-win China-US cooperation is what int'l community expects, says Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said US President Donald Trump's Beijing visit will "enhance mutual understanding and trust," according to the state-run news agency. Xi described Trump's three-day visit, the first by a US president in nine years, as a "historic and landmark" one, adding that the two sides "had set the new vision of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability," Xinhua reported. "We had reached important common understandings on maintaining stable economic and trade ties, expanding practical cooperation in various fields, and properly addressing each other's concerns," Xi said. The two presidents also agreed to enhance communication and coordination on international and regional issues, Xi said, adding that Trump's visit was "conducive to enhancing mutual understanding, deepening mutual trust and improving the well-being of the two peoples." He added that the visit shows that achieving peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between China and the US, based on "mutual respect," is what the people of both countries and the international community expect. Beijing and Washington can promote their respective development and revitalization through strengthened cooperation, Xi said, urging both sides to implement the consensus reached, "preserve the hard-won positive momentum, calibrate direction, eliminate interference, and promote the stable development of bilateral ties." The Chinese president held a welcome ceremony and banquet for his US counterpart, and the two held talks and visited the historic Temple of Heaven on Thursday. The two leaders participated in a greeting ceremony and friendship photo on Friday, after which Xi hosted Trump for a bilateral tea session and a working lunch. Trump departed Beijing following the event. The US president's visit to China comes amid the ongoing Middle East conflict, triggered after the US and Israeli forces launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, prompting retaliation against Israel and US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The trip was originally scheduled for the end of March but was delayed due to the Iran war. Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday evening, local time. His trip marks the first time in nine years that any sitting US president has traveled to China. He last visited Beijing in 2017 during his first term.