Cooperation only choice for US, China: Xi tells Trump

Chinese President Xi Jinping has advised US President-elect Donald Trump to pursue cooperation as the only means to maintain bilateral relations between the world’s two largest economies.

“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 on Monday in a telephone talk between the two leaders.

Xi added the two sided needed to make efforts for better China-US relations and “promote the two countries’ economic development and global economic growth,” according to media reports.

The Chinese leader then congratulated Trump on his election and said that in 37 years since China and the United States established diplomatic relations, bilateral ties have been continuously growing and moving forward.

Xi said cooperation between the two countries has promoted world and regional peace, stability and prosperity.

“The leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another, and President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships,” a statement from Trump's presidential transition office said after the call.

The two leaders agreed to maintain close communications with one another and meet up soon, CCTV said.

Xi had already congratulated Trump in a message delivered shortly after his election victory on Wednesday.

In his congratulatory note, Xi said both shared common interest as the world's top economies, bearing special responsibility in maintaining world peace and stability and boosting global development and prosperity.

China-US relation is one of the most important conflicting relationships in the world as the two view each other as a potential adversary and, at the same time, a strategic partner.

Relations between the two economic heavyweights have generally been stable with some periods of open conflict, most notably during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The two countries remain divided in territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, in which Washington has sided with Beijing’s rivals.

However, China is a strategic business partner and the largest exporter of goods to the US, holding hundreds of billions of US national debt.

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

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