Central People Government of People Re : Xi, Trump discuss trade, Korean Peninsula over phone

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, discussed bilateral trade and the situation on the Korean Peninsula by phone on Jan 16.

The phone call came amid strengthening of efforts to keep China-US trade relations right on track and at a time when tensions on the Korean Peninsula have shown signs of easing.

CHINA-US TRADE

China-US relations maintained overall stability and achieved significant progress in 2017, said Xi in the phone call.

Keeping bilateral ties on a track of healthy and stable development is in the interests of both countries and both peoples, and conforms to the common aspiration of the international community, the President said.

The two sides need to maintain high-level and various levels of interactions, bring the four high-level dialogue mechanisms between them into full play, and hold the second round of dialogues at a proper time, Xi said.

As economic and trade cooperation brings tangible benefits to both peoples, the two countries should adopt constructive measures to properly settle economic and trade issues of mutual concern by opening up the market to each other and 'making the cake of cooperation bigger', Xi added.

The President also called for advancing cooperation between the two militaries, and in law-enforcement, drug control, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation at local levels, as well as close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues.

The two sides need to meet each other halfway, respect each other, focus on cooperation, deal with sensitive issues in a constructive way, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and maintain the momentum of sound and steady development of China-US relations, he said.