Trump China Visit: US Leader Strikes Warmer Tone with Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump has lavished praise on Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a marked contrast to his previous criticism of China on the flashpoint issues of North Korea and trade, BBC reports.

But he also urged Mr Xi to “work very hard” on persuading North Korea to denuclearise.

On China’s trade surplus, Mr Trump surprised many when he said he did “not blame China” for “taking advantage”.

China has said it will lower market entry barriers to some sectors.

The US president was speaking in Beijing while on a state visit.

He is in the Chinese capital as part of his fivenation tour of Asia. The two leaders held talks earlier on Thursday after a grand welcome for Mr Trump.

China will further lower entry barriers in the banking, insurance, and finance sectors, and gradually reduce vehicle tariffs, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Deals worth $ 250bn (£ 190bn) have also been announced, although it is unclear how much of that figure is past deals being re-announced or simply potential future deals.

But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told journalists the deals were “pretty small” in terms of tackling the trade imbalance.

Discussion on how to deal with North Korea’s threats to the region has dominated Mr Trump’s agenda, and China is Pyongyang’s main economic supporter.

Mr Trump said China could fix the problem of North Korea’s nuclear programme “easily and quickly”.

He added: “I am calling on [Mr Xi] to work very hard. I know one thing about your president. If he works on it hard, it’ll get done.”

Mr Xi, for his part, said both sides would “continue to work towards” fully implementing UN sanctions and “enduring peace” on the Korean peninsula.

Mr Trump has previously been more critical and tweeted in July that Beijing was doing “NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk”.

Just before his arrival in Beijing he urged China to sever ties with the North. Beijing has consistently said it is doing all it can.

“I don’t blame China - after all, who can blame a country for taking advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens... I give China great credit,” said Mr Trump while addressing a room of business leaders.

Instead, the US leader said previous US administrations were responsible for what he called “a very unfair and one-sided” trade relationship with China.