Donald Trump held his first call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, with the two leaders discussing TikTok just before the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app in the United States. destiny.
The conversation between the leaders was the first in four years and came just two days before the law takes effect, forcing app stores to stop making it available to users.
"I just spoke with President Xi Jinping of China. This call was a very good one for both China and the United States," Trump wrote on his "Truth" social media platform on Friday. "We discussed balanced trade, fentanyl, TikTok and many other topics. President Xi and I will do whatever we can to make the world a more peaceful and secure place!"
Chinese state media also confirmed the call on Friday but did not disclose any details, including any discussion of TikTok. Trump's incoming national security team has been in contact with Beijing, but the call between the Chinese leader and the incoming U.S. president marked the first direct talks between the two in four years.
The call came three days before Trump's inauguration, which will be attended by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, the first time a senior Chinese official has attended a U.S. inauguration.
The Financial Times reported last week that Xi Jinping would send an envoy to Washington after Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.
Some Trump advisers had hoped Beijing would send Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi, who is very close to Xi and has more power than Han Han, who sometimes fills ceremonial roles in Xi's place.
Both Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of China policy Trump will launch at the beginning of his administration. He has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from China and many other countries, but it is unclear whether he will do so to gain leverage in negotiations with Beijing or whether he will begin talks on a possible trade deal with China, and impose tariffs if negotiations go well. unsuccessful.
The conversation came two days before U.S. app stores were forced to stop selling TikTok, the video-sharing app that has been downloaded by more than 170 million Americans. The Supreme Court's ruling on Friday morning upheld the law, banning the app unless its Chinese owner ByteDance sells the platform.
Trump has expressed support for TikTok, raising questions about whether his administration will prosecute companies that break the law.
On issues such as U.S. export controls and the Taiwan issue, Sino-U.S. relations have reached their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979 during the Biden administration.
While Biden and Xi have managed to partially stabilize relations over the past year, the two countries remain at loggerheads over a range of issues, including China's support for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump has appointed several outspoken China hawks to serve in his administration, including Mike Waltz as national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state .
Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent said this week that Trump would push China to buy more U.S. agricultural products such as corn and soybeans as part of a narrow trade deal he last struck with China.
Bessent said Trump will also actively implement export controls that affect China. Beijing has often criticized the Biden administration for imposing strict export controls on artificial intelligence-related chips and technology to slow down the modernization of the People's Liberation Army.
But Chinese experts are watching closely to see whether some of Trump's tech billionaires, such as Elon Musk, will try to persuade the incoming president to take a less hardline stance on the issue.