President Trump’s statement comes ahead of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. (Photo : Getty Images)
The two most powerful leaders in the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping and American President Donald Trump, will be meeting for the first time in person at Trump's Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago.
The meeting will be held on April 6 to 7 and will mark the first ever China-U.S. high-level talks during the Trump administration.
White House representatives confirmed that the two leaders will "discuss global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual concern."
China pushed for the meeting to be held at Trump's resort to enable a more relaxed atmosphere.
Trump posted a tweet that said, "The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one. We can no longer have massive trade deficits . . . and job losses. American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives."
The tweet comes as a signal of Trump's apprehensions and cynicism over China's relationship with the U.S. Trump has repeatedly blasted China for stealing American jobs and currency manipulation.
Trump has also accused China of being irresponsible and for worsening the nuclear crises in the Korean peninsula.
The American president, however, did agree to honor the one-China policy in February.
The meeting of Xi and Trump will follow the trip of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to China. Tillerson noted that the talks were reconciliatory and that the two countries agreed to cooperate on trade and security.
At the end of Tillerson's trip, Xi said, "We both believe that China-U.S. cooperation henceforth is the direction we are both striving for. We are both expecting a new era of constructive development."
Xi will be flying to the U.S. after stopping by Finland, according to Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He also mentioned the importance of the meeting in Florida.
"The market dictates that interests between our two countries are structured so that you will always have me and I will always have you," said Lu.
"Both sides should work together to make the cake of mutual interest bigger and not simply seek fairer distribution," he said.
