Trump has accepted invitation to visit China in 2017: Chinese state media

Chinese President Xi Jinping met US President on Thursday at Trump’s Florida beach resort on Thursday. This was the Chinese leader’s first meeting with Donald Trump.

Chinese state media say US President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation from his Chinese counterpart to visit China later this year.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during dinner at the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6. (AFP Photo)

The official Xinhua News Agency reported late Thursday that Trump will travel to China at an “early date” in 2017 but gave no details.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are holding their first meeting this week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

During last year’s election campaign and afterward, Trump talked tough about extracting better trade deals out of China and pressuring Beijing to do more to deter North Korea’s nuclear program.

Trump joked at a formal dinner with Xi on Thursday that he had “gotten nothing” in long talks with the Chinese president but said they had developed a friendly rapport.