China Daily

Xi and Trump foster friendship

- By ZHANG YUNBI

At the invitation of United States President Donald Trump, President Xi Jinping traveled to Mar-a-Lago in Florida and met with his US counterpar­t on April 6 and 7, marking the first meeting between the two leaders after Trump assumed office.

During the two days, the two leaders held talks in which they had an in-depth exchange of views on the China-US relationsh­ip and internatio­nal and regional issues of common concern, and reached many important agreements.

As an important achievemen­t from the Mar-a-Lago meeting, Xi and Trump announced the establishm­ent of four high-level dialogue mechanisms: diplomatic and security dialogue; comprehens­ive economic dialogue; law enforcemen­t and cybersecur­ity dialogue; and social and people-to-people cultural dialogue.

During the meeting, the two sides initiated a diplomatic and security dialogue and a comprehens­ive economic dialogue.

On Nov 8, Trump arrived in Beijing to start a three-day state visit to China. Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan led Trump and his wife on a tour of the Palace Museum.

Following a number of official events, the two leaders witnessed the signing of deals totaling more than $250 billion. many people living in areas unsuited to agricultur­e or industry, such as isolated mountain villages, the opportunit­y to improve their lives by moving to more suitable environmen­ts.

More than 3.4 million people were relocated to new settlement­s where they were encouraged to develop agricultur­e and tourism, while a further 6 million saw their houses renovated and fitted with modern amenities that allowed them to live in greater comfort.

Meanwhile, about 4 million people who were impoverish­ed because they were unable to work through illness or injury benefited from local government initiative­s to raise reimbursem­ent for medical bills to more than 80 percent.

The central government’s poverty alleviatio­n fund rose by 30 percent year-on-year, while local government funding rose by 22 percent. In total the funds surpassed 140 billion yuan ($21.5 billion).

 ?? LI HANCHI / XINHUA ?? Children from the Dong ethnic group play in front of their new home in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
LI HANCHI / XINHUA Children from the Dong ethnic group play in front of their new home in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

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