Xi tells Trump nations can be partners, friends

President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation on Friday with United States President-elect Donald Trump, in which he congratulated Trump on being elected for the second time as US president.

Trump thanked Xi for his congratulations and said he cherishes his great relationship with Xi. In addition, the two heads of state exchanged views on major international and regional issues of common concern, such as the Ukraine crisis and the Palestine-Israel conflict.

"The two heads of state agreed to establish strategic communication channels and maintain regular contacts on major issues of common concern for the two countries," the Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

During the conversation, Xi noted that both leaders attach great importance to their interactions, and both hope that China-US relations will have a good start in the new US president's term. He also said that he is willing to push for greater progress in China-US ties from a new starting point.

Xi emphasized that "the two great countries, China and the US, are both pursuing their own dreams" and are committed to enabling their peoples to live a better life.

The two countries "have broad common interests and vast room for cooperation", and they can become partners and friends, enable each other's success, achieve common prosperity and benefit both countries and the world, he added.

Xi noted that it is inevitable that China and the US — two major countries with different national conditions — will have some divergences between them.

"The key is to respect each other's core interests and major concerns" and find a proper solution to problems, he said.

Trump said he hopes to maintain dialogue and communication and is looking forward to meeting with Xi at an early date.

The US president-elect added that the US and China are the most important countries in the world today and should maintain long-lasting friendship and work together to safeguard world peace.

Xi said the Taiwan question matters to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and he urged the US side to handle it with prudence.

The essence of China-US economic and trade ties is about mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and confrontation and conflict should not be the choice of the two countries, he said.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and they should do more major, substantial and good things to benefit the two countries and the world, Xi said.

Both sides should "keep China and the US — like two giant ships — sailing on the course of stable, healthy and sustainable development", he added.

Also on Friday, the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that President Xi's special representative, Vice-President Han Zheng, will attend Trump's inauguration ceremony on Monday in Washington, DC.

The statement reiterated the three principles that China follows in viewing and developing its relationship with the US — "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation".

"We stand ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other," the statement added.

Beijing's announcement of sending Han to attend Trump's inauguration ceremony shows China's unchanged commitment to constructively managing bilateral ties and the consistency of its US policy, observers said.

The Xi-Trump phone talks and the announcement of Han's trip are part of Beijing's efforts to actively shape the ties' future, and it is China's sincere hope that the US will work toward the same goal, said Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department for American Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

"Beijing's message is clear: The two sides should act on clear principles and pursue shared goals if they look to further stabilize the bilateral ties," she said.

"Only with mutual respect, not lecturing each other, can the two sides better understand each other.… We have seen Washington's worries about the ties' potential spiraling out of control, and a major conflict of the US with other major countries will surely lead to disastrous consequences," she added.

It is unlikely that the ties will be in good shape if Washington always defines China as a rival in strategic competition, Su said.