Trump says he and China's Xi have been talking through aides

Traditional Russian wooden dolls called Matryoshka depict China's President Xi Jinping and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump are for sale at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg, Russia on Nov. 21, 2024. (Dmitri Lovetsky / AP Photo)

WASHINGTON — U.S. president-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have been speaking through representatives and he believes the two leaders will get along.

"We've already been talking. We've been talking through their representatives," Trump said in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, described Xi as a strong and powerful man who he said was revered in China.

"And I think we will probably get very well, I predict," he said. "But you know, it's got to be a two-way street," Trump added, repeating an accusation that China has been "ripping off" the U.S. economically.

China attaches "great importance" to Trump's remarks, its foreign ministry said at a regular news briefing on Tuesday.

"China is willing to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations," spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, citing mutual respect and "win-win" cooperation.

Guo did not confirm that any exchanges had been made through the leaders' aides, but said China and the U.S. have maintained communications through various means.

Trump invited Xi and other foreign leaders to his inauguration in Washington later this month, but experts say the Chinese leader is unlikely to attend.

Trump has named numerous China hawks to key posts in his incoming administration, including Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Trump has also said he will impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing does more to stop trafficking of the highly addictive narcotic fentanyl. He threatened tariffs in excess of 60 per cent on Chinese goods while on the campaign trail.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Colleen Howe in Beijing; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Rami Ayyub and Tom Hogue)