Trump says he likes China’s Xi ‘very much’

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has “always had a great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that he looks forward to “getting along with China.”

The U.S. and China will “have a very good relationship,” the president said in a virtual interview at the World Economic Forum, according to the White House readout.

“All we want is fairness. We just want a level playing field,” Trump said. “But I like President Xi very much. I’ve always liked him.”

The newly minted president said earlier this week that he may increase duties on Chinese goods by 10% as soon as Feb. 1. The White House on Monday also announced plans to investigate China over actions harmful to U.S. commerce. During his campaign trail, Trump had floated imposing tariffs upward of 60% on Chinese goods.

Separately, Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday stateside that while he would prefer not to have to impose tariffs on China, his tariff threats have “tremendous power” over China.

The mainland’s blue-chip CSI 300 index cheered Trump’s latest remarks, rising nearly 1%. The offshore yuan climbed as much as 0.67% to 7.2389 against the U.S. dollar, its strongest level since late November, according to LSEG data. The tightly controlled onshore yuan also gained 0.61% to 7.2445.

China has also recently repeated its willingness to negotiate with Washington. The Ministry of Commerce said it had always maintained communication with “relevant” U.S. authorities on economy and trade.

“China is willing to work with the U.S. to push bilateral economic and trade relations in a stable, healthy and sustainable direction,” ministry spokesperson He Yadong said Thursday, noting that was on the basis of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”

The two leaders held a phone call last Friday to discuss TikTok, fentanyl and trade, which Trump had called “a very good one.” The Chinese side’s readout did not mention the social media app, but said Xi called for cooperation and cast the two countries’ economic ties as mutually beneficial.

Trump has dragged the sale of social media app TikTok into tariff negotiation with China, as the app faces legal perils stateside. The president helped prevent the app from being shut down in the U.S. with a temporary reprieve that delayed the enforcement of a ban on the app by 75 days.

While signing the executive order, Trump suggested the U.S. investors should own half of TikTok’s business in the country if the app were to stay online. He had toyed with the idea of imposing tariffs on China if Beijing stood in the way of TikTok getting a U.S. partner.

Speaking to world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said the U.S. and China did not have a “fair relationship” when it comes to trade and that he would work on curbing the “massive” U.S. trade deficit with China.

The U.S. trade deficit with China stood at over $270 billion between January and November of 2024, compared to a deficit of over $280 billion in 2023, according to U.S. government statistics. The deficit stood at nearly $308 billion in 2020 — Trump’s last full year in office in his previous tenure.

The president also said he hoped to work with China to put an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. “Hopefully, China can help us stop the war with, in particular, Russia-Ukraine. And they have a great deal of power over that situation, and we’ll work with them.”

As Trump assumed office on Monday, China’s Xi spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin in a video call, where the two leaders vowed to deepen their strategic ties.