China Foreign Ministry says Xi, Trump have been in touch all along
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In a photo taken on June 29, US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping pose for a photo ahead of their bilateral meeting during the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday (Nov 4) that President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have been in touch all along through various means, when asked when and where the two leaders might meet.
Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comments at a daily news briefing in Beijing.
Mr Trump last Friday suggested that he could sign a long-awaited trade agreement with China in the farm state of Iowa.
US and Chinese negotiators have been racing to finalise a text of a "phase one" agreement for Mr Trump and Mr Xi to sign this month, a process clouded by wrangling over US demands for a timetable of Chinese purchases of US farm products.
A critical date is Dec 15, when new US tariffs on Chinese imports such as laptops, toys and electronics are set to kick in.
Both the United States and China have an interest in reaching a deal and averting those tariffs.
