The president-elect said the two talked about a range of issues, including TikTok, trade, and fentanyl.
President-elect Donald Trump said he held a productive call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping just days ahead of his inauguration.
“The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.,” he said on his social media site Truth Social. He said that the conversation covered balancing trade, fentanyl, the Chinese media platform TikTok, and “many other subjects.”
“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” he wrote.
The call was the first between the two since Trump’s November 2024 election win, following confirmation that Xi has sent his deputy, Han Zheng, to Trump’s Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony on his behalf.
Trump extended an invitation to Xi to the occasion in December 2024, a gesture his spokesperson described as “creating an open dialog with leaders of countries that are not just our allies, but our adversaries and our competitors, too.”
Trump appeared to hint at the move during a Dec. 12 speech at the New York Stock Exchange as he rang the market opening bell, saying that he was “even thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration.”
“Some people said, ‘Wow, that’s a little risky, isn’t it?’ And I said: ‘Maybe it is. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens,’” he said at the time. “But we like to take little chances, but that’s not a bad chance.”
The Chinese foreign ministry said the Friday call took place in the evening time, with Xi congratulating Trump on the reelection and emphasizing readiness to “secure greater progress in China–U.S. relations from a new starting point.”
Xi particularly raised concerns about Taiwan, the democratic-ruled island that Beijing has sought to reclaim by any means necessary, and said he hoped Washington would handle it with care, according to the ministry.
By Eva Fu
