US President Donald Trump said he will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional summit in South Korea at the end of October and travel to China early next year, following a nearly two-hour phone call Friday.
The Associated Press(AP) reported the development after Trump disclosed the talks on Truth Social.
Trump said Xi would also visit the United States “at an appropriate time” and claimed progress on “the approval of the TikTok Deal,” though he gave no details. Beijing’s statement did not mention visits or clarify TikTok’s ownership but urged Washington to avoid fresh trade restrictions.
The call suggested a willingness to cooperate despite tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Trump said both sides looked forward to meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and called Xi “a gentleman” in the negotiations. He told reporters American investors were “lined up on TikTok” but gave little clarity on the app’s algorithm, which remains under Chinese export controls.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance welcomed the leaders’ support but did not detail how it would resolve US demands for a spin-off. US officials say ByteDance must divest to address data and national security concerns. Chinese officials said consensus had been reached on intellectual property rights and that a partner would handle US user data.
Trump said the two leaders also discussed trade, fentanyl and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Farm exports from the US to China have fallen more than 50 percent this year after Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs in response to US duties linked to fentanyl.
Analysts say Beijing retains leverage by insisting any deal conform to Chinese law, while Trump casts himself as the final decision-maker.
