Xi, Trump to meet amid hopes for stable ties

As President Xi Jinping is set to meet with United States President Donald Trump on Thursday, observers said the top priority is to further faithfully implement all of the points of consensus that have been, and will be, made by the two heads of state.

The scenario is expected to improve the overall stability of China-US ties as well as two-way collaboration, which has been kept afloat in various aspects ranging from trade to law enforcement, they added.

As agreed to by China and the US, Xi will meet with Trump in Busan, a coastal city in the Republic of Korea, to "exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest", the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.

This will be the first face-to-face meeting between them since Trump assumed office in January for his second term as US president.

"Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-US relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

During their meeting, the two presidents will have "in-depth communication on strategic and long-term issues concerning China-US relations and major issues of common concern", he said.

"We are willing to make joint efforts with the US side to drive this meeting to yield positive outcomes, and to provide new guidance and inject new impetus into the stable development of China-US relations," Guo said at a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

Last month, the two leaders held their third phone talks this year, following the first in January and the second in June.

In the most recent phone talks, Xi said the two nations "are fully capable of helping each other succeed and prospering together", and Trump said the two countries working together can get many great things done that are good for world peace and stability.

Diao Daming, a professor of US studies at Renmin University of China's School of International Relations, noted that the China-US ties, despite some ups and downs this year, "have maintained a generally stable status thanks to the navigating role played by head-of-state diplomacy".

The ties have been affected by destabilizing factors such as economic and trade frictions brought by Washington's view of China as a competitor, he said.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which Wang noted that both Xi and Trump are "world-class leaders", and their long-term exchanges and mutual respect have become "the most valuable strategic asset in China-US relations".

China is now the US' second-largest source of imports and third-largest market for its exports.

This year, the two sides have held five rounds of economic and trade talks — in Geneva, Switzerland in May; in London, the United Kingdom, in June; in Stockholm, Sweden, in July; in Madrid, Spain, in September; and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday and Sunday.

Wu Xinbo, dean of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said the latest economic and trade talks in Malaysia reached a framework consensus on addressing the current urgent economic and trade issues on an equal footing, and they helped pave the way for the head-of-state meeting in the ROK.

"Both sides still look forward to a stable bilateral relationship despite the two-way trade frictions," he said.

Zhao Minghao, a professor at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said the face-to-face meeting between Xi and Trump will take place at a time when the world has entered a new phase of change and turmoil, and peace and development face numerous challenges.

Two countries need to "develop a proper way of major countries getting along with each other", Zhao added.