Trump to visit China early next year, says focus will be on ‘fair’ trade deal

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping

United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that he will visit China early next year after receiving an invitation from Beijing, Reuters reported, citing his remarks at the White House on Monday.

“I’ve been invited to go to China, and I’ll be doing that sometime fairly early next year. We have it sort of set,” Trump told reporters while hosting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The visit will follow Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea later this month, their first face-to-face interaction of Trump’s second term.

Focus on trade negotiations

Trump said his main agenda during the talks with Xi will be to secure a “fair” trade agreement between the two countries. He hinted at taking a tougher stance, saying he could “threaten China with other things, including aeroplanes,” and expressed confidence that Beijing would engage in discussions on critical minerals.

“I want to be good to China. I love my relationship with President Xi. We have a great relationship,” he added, underlining his personal rapport with the Chinese leader.

When asked whether US support for Taiwan could be compromised as part of a broader deal with China, Trump avoided a direct answer. “I think we'll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,” he said, responding to speculation about a potential Chinese move on Taiwan.

Reiterating his confidence in US military capability, Trump said, “We have the best of everything, and nobody's going to mess with that. And I don't see that at all with President Xi.” He added that relations with China on Taiwan “will be just fine.”

Trump declined to comment on reports that Beijing has urged Washington to avoid supporting Taiwan’s independence.