China's Xi tells Donald Trump cooperation is only choice

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President-elect Donald Trump in a phone call on Monday that cooperation was the only choice for relations between the two countries, Chinese state media said.

Trump had lambasted China throughout the US election campaign, drumming up headlines with his pledges to slap 45 per cent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

His election has injected uncertainty into bilateral relations at a time when Beijing hopes for stability as it faces daunting reform challenges at home, a slowing economy, and a leadership reshuffle of its own that will put a new party elite around Xi in late 2017.

“The facts prove that cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the United States,” China Central Television (CCTV) cited Xi as telling Trump.

“The two sides must strengthen coordination, promote the two countries’ economic development and global economic growth, expand all areas of exchange and cooperation, ensure the two countries’ people obtain more tangible benefits, and push for better development going forward in China-US relations,” Xi said.

CCTV said Trump told Xi he was willing to work with China to strengthen US-China cooperation and that he believed US-China relations can “definitely achieve greater development”.

The two agreed to maintain close communication, meet soon, and exchange views on issues of concern to both sides, CCTV said.