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President Donald Trump said Monday that he has accepted an invitation from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit Beijing in April and that he reciprocated by inviting Xi for a state visit to the US later next year. Trump made the announcement after he spoke with Xi by phone nearly a month after the two leaders met in person in South Korea, saying they discussed issues including Ukraine, fentanyl and purchases of American soybeans. "Our relationship with China is extremely strong!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Beijing, which announced the phone call first, said nothing about the state visits but noted that the two leaders discussed trade, Taiwan and Ukraine. Xi told Trump that Taiwan's return to mainland China is "an integral part of the postwar international order," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said a crucial issue to Beijing that Trump did not mention in his post. The omissions from each side signal that sticking points remain for the two superpowers even as they highlight ..
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing by train on Tuesday to attend a military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, an event that observers say could potentially demonstrate three-way unity against the United States. Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the 26 world leaders who will join China's President Xi Jinping at Wednesday's massive military parade in Beijing that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China's fight against Japan's wartime aggressions. It's set to be Kim's first time attending a major multilateral event during his 14-year rule, and the first time Kim, Xi and Putin, all key challengers of the US, have gathered at the same venue. None of the three countries have confirmed a private trilateral leaders' meeting. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim was greeted at Beijing railway station by senior Chinese officials. Kim was cited as saying he was pleased to visit China and ...
China and the European Union have issued a joint call to action on climate change during an otherwise tense bilateral summit in Beijing on Thursday riven with major disagreements over trade and the war in Ukraine. The two economic juggernauts issued a joint statement on climate change, urging more emission cuts and greater use of green technology and affirming their support for the Paris Climate Agreement as well as calling for strong action at the upcoming COP30 climate summit in Brazil. In the fluid and turbulent international situation today, it is crucial that all countries, notably the major economies, maintain policy continuity and stability and step up efforts to address climate change, the joint statement said. Their climate agreement was a silver lining on a stormy day where European leaders demanded a more balanced relationship with China in talks with President Xi Jinping. They highlighted trade in their opening remarks, calling for concrete progress to address Europe's
India and China should build on "good progress" in normalising the bilateral ties to address border-related issues including de-escalation, and it is essential to avoid "restrictive trade measures and roadblocks", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Jaishankar said the bilateral relations can develop in a "positive trajectory" on the foundation that differences should not become disputes and nor should competition become conflict, adding the ties can be built only on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity. The external affairs minister said India hopes "zero tolerance for terrorism" will be upheld at the upcoming meeting of the SCO, saying its primary mandate is to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, comments seen as a reference to Pakistan's support to cross-border terrorism. Jaishankar met Wang hours after he landed in China on a two-day
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is wrapping his up his second and final day at a Southeast Asian security conference with a high-stakes meeting with his Chinese counterpart as tensions grow between Washington and Beijing over issues from trade to security and China's support for Russia's war in Ukraine. After discussions with regional countries at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations forum in Malaysia, Rubio on Friday was close out his first official trip to Asia in his first face-to-face talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the State Department said. The meeting comes less than 24 hours after Rubio met in Kuala Lumpur with another rival, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during which they discussed potential new avenues to jumpstart Ukraine peace talks. The meetings come against a backdrop of global and regional unease over US policies, notably on trade and large tariffs that US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on friend and foe alike. While Ru
Foreign tourists are trickling back to China after the country loosened its visa policy to unprecedented levels. Citizens from 74 countries can now enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, a big jump from previous regulations. The government has been steadily expanding visa-free entry in a bid to boost tourism, the economy and its soft power. More than 20 million foreign visitors entered without a visa in 2024 almost one-third of the total and more than double from the previous year, according to the National Immigration Administration. This really helps people to travel because it is such a hassle to apply for a visa and go through the process, Georgi Shavadze, a Georgian living in Austria, said on a recent visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. While most tourist sites are still packed with far more domestic tourists than foreigners, travel companies and tour guides are now bracing for a bigger influx in anticipation of summer holiday goers coming to China. I'm practical
The prime minister of New Zealand stressed the importance of his country's trade ties with China in a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday. Christopher Luxon, on his first visit to China since becoming prime minister in late 2023, flew to Beijing after two days of meetings with officials and business leaders in Shanghai, China's commercial centre. He wants to maintain healthy trade relations with China, an important market for New Zealand products, despite differences over regional and global security issues and China's growing divide with the United States. Our trade and economic links are complementary and contribute to prosperity in both countries, he was quoted as saying in a news release following his meeting with Xi. Luxon said he raised the necessity of reducing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and the importance of what he called the key role that China can play in helping to resolve global challenges such as the war in Ukraine. In a complex world, open dial