Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with US President Donald Trump by phone on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV said, ahead of an expected visit by Trump to China in April and hours after Xi had a virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese state media did not provide further details on the call. The Kremlin said it was informed in advance about the conversation between Xi and Trump.
It said earlier on Wednesday that Putin had accepted an invitation from Xi to visit China in the first half of this year.
“Yes, we were aware of this in advance,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency, responding to a question on whether the Chinese president had informed Putin about plans to hold a conversation with Trump on Wednesday.
Xi and Trump last spoke by phone in late November, after which Trump touted “extremely strong” relations with China.
Following months of trade tensions triggered by Trump’s tariffs last year, relations between Washington and Beijing stabilised after a meeting between the leaders in October in South Korea, where a fragile trade truce was struck.
