The White House confirmed Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the United States for talks with President Donald Trump on April 6.
President Trump will host Xi for two days at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
A White House statement said the agenda will include "global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual concern," without giving any specifics.
During his campaign for president, Trump complained frequently about China’s trade practices, threatening to impose tough import tariffs on Chinese goods and promising to label the country a currency manipulator.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited China earlier this month to lay the groundwork for Xi's visit.
In his own meeting with the Chinese president, Tillerson told Xi that President Trump looks forward to enhancing the understanding between the two countries.
In February, Trump reaffirmed Washington’s long-standing “One China” policy in a call with Xi, in an apparent move to ease concerns in China that he might use Taiwan as leverage in negotiations over trade, security and other sensitive issues. The policy in place since 1979 requires Washington to maintain only unofficial ties with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
Relations between China and the U.S. under President Barack Obama were strained by issues including China’s island-building in waters that straddle the international shipping lanes in the South China Sea, allegations of cyber hacking and a U.S. policy rebalance to Asia.
One bright spot touted by both sides was their cooperation, as the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, on tackling climate change. Lu said Wednesday that China would stick to its climate commitments after Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, this week rescinded measures enacted by Obama to reduce coal and oil use.
Information from AP was used in this report
