Trump praises ‘highly respected’ Xi; visit sets new blueprint for US-China ties

BEIJING (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping as “highly respected” on Friday as he left Beijing for Vietnam, ending a visit which Chinese media declared set a “new blueprint” for handling US-China relations and differences.

Trump pressed China to do more to rein in North Korea and said bilateral trade had been unfair to the United States, but lauded Xi’s pledge that China would be more open to foreign firms.

The two also oversaw the signing of about $250 billion in commercial deals, but there was little progress reported on US firms complaints about market access or US government probes into issues like intellectual property theft.

Shortly before flying off to Vietnam, where he will attend the APEC summit of Asia Pacific leaders, Trump tweeted: “My meetings with President Xi Jinping were very productive on both trade and the subject of North Korea”.

“He is a highly respected and powerful representative of his people. It was great being with him and Madame Peng Liyuan!” Trump added, referring to Xi’s wife.

Trump reiterated comments from the previous day that he didn’t blame China for the trade difficulties between the two countries.

“I don’t blame China, I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the US on trade leading up to a point where the US is losing $100’s of billions. How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would’ve done same!”

China lavished attention on Trump and his wife Melania during their visit, with Xi personally chaperoning them on a tour of the Forbidden City, part of what the Chinese government referred to as a “state visit plus”.

Chinese state media on Friday said the tone and outcome of Trump’s visit had been largely positive, saying Trump and Xi were setting a new blueprint for handling relations and managing their differences.