U.S. President Donald Trump on the 4th (local time) confirmed that he had a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they held positive discussions on several global issues.
Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social, "I just finished a great phone call with President Xi," adding, "It was a long and in-depth conversation in which we discussed a variety of major issues."
On what they discussed, he wrote, "Trade, the military, my April visit to China that I am very much looking forward to, Taiwan, the Russia-Ukraine war, the current situation surrounding Iran, China's purchases of U.S. oil and gas, China's review of additional purchases of agricultural products, the supply of aircraft engines, and many other topics were discussed, and all were positive."
The discussion on purchases of oil and gas is drawing attention because China, which has mainly imported oil and gas from Russia, Iran and Venezuela, could replace part of its oil import sources with the United States.
Trump also said China agreed to increase its purchases of U.S. soybeans to 20 million tons (t) this season and promised to buy 25 million t next season.
Trump added, "Relations with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, are very good, and we all know how important it is to maintain this." He continued, "I believe that over the remaining three years of my term we can achieve many positive outcomes with President Xi and China."
The call between Trump and Xi was the first since Nov. 24 last year. The call came a month after a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting in Gyeongju.