Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional issues amid the Iran war, China said on Friday.
The two leaders held an “in-depth exchange of views” on major issues concerning both countries and the world and reached a series of “new common understandings,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, according to a statement, as Trump made the first visit by a US president to China since 2017.
Xi and Trump also met last year on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea.
The Chinese president held a welcome ceremony and banquet for his US counterpart, and the two held talks and visited the Temple of Heaven on Thursday.
They agreed on a “new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability to provide strategic guidance for China-US relations over the next three years and beyond, promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations, and bring more peace, prosperity and progress to the world,” the spokesperson said.
Trump and Xi also reached “important common understandings on handling their mutual concerns in a proper manner,” the spokesperson said.
Interactions between the two presidents have strengthened “mutual understanding, deepened mutual trust, advanced practical cooperation, increased benefits for the people of both countries, and injected much-needed stability and certainty into the world,” the spokesperson added.
On Thursday, Trump claimed Xi told him Beijing would not provide military equipment to Iran and expressed support for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
“He said he’s not going to give military equipment. That’s a big statement,” he said.
The two leaders participated in a greeting ceremony and friendship photo on Friday, after which Xi hosted Trump for a bilateral tea session and a working lunch.
Trump is scheduled to depart Beijing following the event.
The US president’s visit to China comes amid the ongoing Middle East conflict, triggered after US and Israeli forces launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, prompting retaliation against Israel and US allies in the Gulf along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
An indefinite ceasefire is currently in effect.