U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump takes office again promising tariffs that could ratchet up tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
Both leaders were upbeat about the call, with Trump calling it “a very good one” and Xi saying he and Trump both hoped for a positive start to U.S.-China relations, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
It was the first known phone call between the pair after Trump’s election in November.
The U.S. and China are embroiled in an array of diplomatic and economic disagreements, including an accelerating technological and military rivalry and bitter trade disputes. Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee to be his secretary of state, has defined China as the gravest threat facing the U.S. and warned about the risks of possible military conflict between the two countries.
