KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday he sees a “high probability” of a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but that he did not discuss any specific date with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Malaysia.
Rubio said his first face-to-face talks with Wang in Kuala Lumpur, which lasted about an hour, were “positive” and “very constructive” despite ongoing tensions between the world’s two largest economies over trade and security.
“President Trump’s been invited to visit China. It’s a visit he wants to undertake, and so we’ll work on finding the right date for that,” Rubio told reporters. “But I’m sure it’ll happen, because the president, both presidents, want it to happen.”
During their phone talks on June 5, Xi invited Trump to visit China again, for which the U.S. president expressed heartfelt appreciation, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Trump, who last visited the Asian country in 2017, said he reciprocated the invitation.
Rubio stressed the importance of “regular engagement and communication” between the two major powers to help stabilize their ties. “I think it would benefit the world,” he added.
The Chinese ministry said the two agreed to “strengthen communication in various fields and at all levels” and explore cooperation while managing differences.
Wang expressed hope that Washington will view Beijing “in an objective, rational and pragmatic manner” and formulate its China policy with the goal of “peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”
The top Chinese diplomat also called on the United States to deal with China “in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” the ministry said.
The two met on the fringes of gatherings of Southeast Asian countries and their partners, at a time when the United States and China are seeking to dial down trade tensions, although their competition for influence in the Indo-Pacific region and elsewhere continues.
While U.S.-China geopolitical tensions and technology rivalry are making cooperation between the two countries increasingly difficult, they have backed away from their respective triple-digit tariff rates set after Trump launched a trade war against Beijing.
With a 90-day truce in the tit-for-tat tariff war in place since May, Trump spoke with Xi last month for the first time since beginning his nonconsecutive second term as U.S. president.
Earlier this week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “We’re in a pretty good place now. I think we’re going to meet in early August and we’re going to start kicking off a bigger trade conversation between the two largest economies in the world.”
Lutnick said in a CNBC interview that he, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are set to travel together to meet with their Chinese counterparts, without revealing a potential meeting location.
The trio last held a high-level meeting with China in London in June, during which both sides agreed on a framework to ease trade tensions.
(By Maya Kaneko)
