US President Donald Trump will travel to China late next month a White House official says, setting dates for a highly anticipated encounter amid tension between the world’s biggest economies.
Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of the extended visit March 31 to April 2, as the two sides weigh whether to extend a trade truce that paused a tariff escalation, said the official.
“That’s going to be a wild one,” Trump told foreign leaders on Thursday about the China trip.
“We have to put on the biggest display you’ve ever had in the history of China.”
The visit would be the leaders’ first talks since February and their first in-person visit since an October meeting in South Korea, where Trump agreed to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, resuming US soybean purchases and keeping rare earths exports flowing.
While the October meeting largely sidestepped the sensitive issue of Taiwan, in February, Xi raised US arms sales to the island.
Washington announced its largest-ever arms sales deal with Taiwan in December, including $US11.1 billion ($A15.8 billion) in weapons that could ostensibly be used to defend against a Chinese attack. Taiwan expects more such sales.
China views Taiwan as its own territory, a position Taipei rejects.
The United States has formal diplomatic ties with China, but maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and is the island’s most important arms supplier.
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
According to Trump, Xi also said during the February call that he would consider further increasing soybean purchases.
Soybeans are key because struggling US farmers are a major domestic political constituency for Trump, and China is the top consumer.
Although Trump has tagged China as the reason for several hawkish policy steps from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela, he has eased policy toward Beijing in the past several months in key areas, from tariffs to advanced computer chips and drones.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to China next week for talks on political and economic ties, as well as security issues.
It will be his first visit to the country since taking office.
Merz is to be received with military honours on Wednesday by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, followed by a joint lunch.
In the afternoon, he is scheduled to hold a one-on-one meeting with President Xi.
Trade tensions between Berlin and Beijing are simmering, particularly over rare earths.
German and European manufacturers have reported shortages of these materials linked to restrictive Chinese trade policies.
with DPA