United States President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, the president of China, arrived for a face-to-face meeting in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday amid strong trade tensions between the United States and China.
Afterward, Donald Trump described the meeting as “excellent” and said the United States and China are “back on track” but that “negotiations are continuing.”
The meeting between the two leaders at the G-20 summit is their first in seven months, although the two reportedly saw each other at a dinner for the Group of 20 leaders, where Donald Trump said much was accomplished.
Donald Trump and Xi were much expected to put their zoom on issues including trade and a dispute over Huawei Technologies.
“We’ve had an excellent relationship,” Donald Trump said to Xi at the beginning of the meeting, “but we want to do something that will even it up with respect to trade.”
Donald Trump told reporters he thought they would have a “very productive” meeting. “I think we can go on to do something that will be truly monumental and great for both countries,” he added.
Xi said he felt both the United States and China derive merits from cooperation and lose with confrontation. “Cooperation and dialogue are better than friction and confrontation,” he said.
Donald Trump has already placed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports and has threatened to tax an additional $300 billion. China retaliated with its own tariffs on American exports.
After the meeting with Xi, Trump has another with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.