Trump, Xi talks set to end US, China trade war

A PHONE call held between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss trade issues was “extremely positive”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday, as Asian stocks soared over a possible armistice in the trade war.

Trump and Xi had “an extremely positive call” on Thursday and “conducted a long and in-depth discussion”, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang.

“Xi Jinping emphasised that Sino-us economic and trade relations have always been the ballast and stabiliser for Sino-us relations,” Lu said, adding that Trump told Xi he wanted to expand US exports to China.

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that Trump had asked his staff to draw up a potential deal, signalling a stop in the months-long trade war. Trump would like to reach an agreement with Xi on trade at the G20 summit in Argentina later this month.

Trump said on Thursday that trade talks were “moving along nicely”, following a “long and very good conversation” he had with Xi.

Chinese stocks soared over the news, with the Hang Seng Index jumping 4.21% and the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 2.7% on Friday.

This was Trump and Xi’s first known talk in six months, during which the world’s two largest economies fought a bitter trade war.

Washington slapped tariffs of $250 billion (R3.6 trillion) worth of Chinese goods, about half of all the Chinese exports to the US.