Washington, DC - From November 8th through 10th, China hosted President Donald J. Trump on an official state visit, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. President Trump and President Xi had candid and in-depth conversations about United States-China relations, as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern.
The two presidents affirmed that the United States-China relationship is shaped by shared interests and a common commitment to addressing global challenges. Both leaders committed to expand areas of cooperation and generate positive outcomes for the benefit of the citizens of both countries. They committed to directly and frankly address areas of differences, with the aim of solving or narrowing them. The two sides also discussed the progress of United States-China relations since the presidential meeting in Florida in April.
During their April meeting, the two presidents set up the United States-China Comprehensive Dialogue with four pillars: the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue; the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue; the Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue; and the Social and Cultural Dialogue. Each of these dialogues have met since April, to prepare for President Trump’s state visit and produce meaningful results.
During this visit, President Trump raised his concerns about the North Korean nuclear program. The two sides committed to upholding the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the goal of full, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and stated that they will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. Both sides recognized that North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests violate relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, and affirmed a commitment to keep up pressure to curb these programs, including through full and strict implementation of relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. Both sides will work toward resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue through dialogue and to addressing the reasonable concerns of all parties. Both sides affirmed they will maintain communication about the Korean Peninsula situation and the steps that the United States and China ought to take, and will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation through existing mechanisms.
The United States and China committed to maintain communication regarding macroeconomic policy topics, including fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies; respective structural reforms; and global economic governance-related issues. The United States and China intend to jointly promote a strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive global growth.
The two presidents recognized the importance of United States-China economic relations to both nations’ prosperity and to the international trading system. During the visit, companies of the two nations signed trade and investment deals worth more than $250 billion. These deals will create jobs for American workers, farmers, and ranchers by increasing United States exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities.
President Trump underscored the importance of rebalancing the bilateral economic relationship, emphasizing the need for a more equitable relationship that strengthens American jobs and exports. He called on China to guarantee fair and reciprocal treatment to United States companies, provide greater market access to United States exports and firms, and accelerate the implementation of market-oriented reforms to reduce the bilateral trade deficit. The President emphasized that Chinese government intervention in the Chinese economy has caused stresses in the global trading system. He reiterated that the United States will use all available trade remedies to create a level playing field for United States workers and businesses.
The two presidents announced their plans to enhance cooperation in combatting drugs, including synthetic opioids. The United States and China committed to quickly take steps to regulate and control two fentanyl precursors. Both sides committed to discuss the possibility of scheduling fentanyl as a class; coordinating on international drug policy, such as scheduling ketamine under U.N. conventions; enhancing precursors control and intelligence sharing; conducting case cooperation on mailed packages containing drugs and precursors; and exchanging tracking information on packages between the United States and China, so as to identify individuals and criminal networks responsible for trafficking.
Both sides committed to enhancing cooperation on cybercrime cases and network protection, including by responding to outstanding requests for assistance and enforcement actions, in particular those cases involving cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, the use of the internet by terrorists for criminal activities, and online firearm trafficking and online child pornography. The United States and China committed to fulfilling responsibilities under the U.N. law enforcement and terrorism conventions, as well as under the United States-China Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement, to prevent either country from becoming a safe haven for fugitives and to provide cooperation and mutual legal assistance in response to law enforcement requests, including cooperation with regards to business email compromise cases. Both sides committed to coordinating all law enforcement activities on each other’s territory, and cooperating in investigations of uncoordinated activity. In order to better enhance law enforcement cooperation, both sides recognized the need to carry forward working-level mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues.
The two presidents confirmed plans to establish a repeatable process of repatriation of illegal immigrants by the date agreed upon at the Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue.
The two presidents also reaffirmed the 2015 commitments on cybersecurity, and they emphasized the need for full cooperation into investigations of potentially contravening activity. They pledged to work together to prevent and mitigate the malicious exploitation of their networks by third countries.
The two sides reaffirmed the importance of the military-to-military relationship and reducing the risk of miscalculation between our two militaries. The two sides plan to organize an early exchange of high-level visits, with Secretary of Defense James Mattis visiting China in 2018 and a senior high-level Chinese military delegation visiting the United States, also in 2018. The two sides committed to working together to hold exchanges on space security, cyberspace, and nonproliferation before the next round of the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue. Both sides expressed readiness to deepen practical nonproliferation cooperation.
The two sides candidly discussed regional and maritime security. President Trump underscored the critical importance of the peaceful resolution of disputes, unimpeded lawful commerce, and respect for international law in the East and South China Sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, and raised concerns about militarization of outposts in the South China Sea.
To enhance regional and global security, the United States discussed measures to support a stable and prosperous Afghanistan and promote Afghanistan-Pakistan cooperation, including addressing these issues in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. The United States and China plan to jointly engage states in the Middle East about promoting these goals and taking measures against terrorist groups that threaten regional stability.
The two leaders affirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation on nuclear security and countering nuclear smuggling, and continuing to support the global nuclear security architecture. The United States and China reaffirmed their commitment to enhance regional capacity building through the China Nuclear Security Centre of Excellence and the China Customs Training Centre for Radiation Detection, and preventing terrorists and criminals from acquiring nuclear or other radioactive materials, including by enhancing the security of radioactive sources.
Trump and President Xi committed to create an environment enabling their two peoples to promote mutual understanding and enjoy productive exchange. The two sides had a candid exchange of views on human rights and the United States side highlighted the role that the free flow of information, including citizens’ access to media, plays in fostering mutual understanding.
Both sides affirmed the important role that civil society organizations play in furthering social and economic development and people-to-people ties. The United States looks forward to consultations with China on the Foreign NGO Management Law by the end of the year.
The two sides decided to carry out joint projects on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. Both sides plan to continue to implement the International Health Regulations and carry out their National Action Plans on Anti-Microbial Resistance. The two sides committed to setting up a clear process and timeline to rapidly and continuously share influenza viruses with human pandemic potential. The two sides committed to working toward establishing an annual consultation mechanism for senior health officials from both countries.
The President recognizes the important outcomes arising from this visit. He thanks President Xi and the people of China for their hospitality, and hopes that the visit sets a foundation for productive engagement. The two presidents plan to keep in close contact, including on major issues of shared interest.
