Chinese president offers warm words for Tillerson

by Rebecca Savransky - 03/19/17 8:17 AM ET

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson he appreciates the relationship between the two countries.

“You said that China-U.S. relations can only be friendly. I express my appreciation for this,” Xi said, Reuters reported.

His comments came at the end of Tillerson’s first trip to Asia since becoming the U.S.’s top diplomat and two days after President Trump in a tweet slammed China and North Korea.

The Chinese president also said he had spoken with Trump and suggested they both agreed on the importance of the U.S.-China relationship.

{mosads}”We both believe that China-U.S. cooperation henceforth is the direction we are both striving for. We are both expecting a new era for constructive development,” Xi said. “The joint interests of China and the United States far outweigh the differences, and cooperation is the only correct choice for us both.”

Tillerson said in response that Trump “places a very high value on the communications that have already occurred” between the two leaders.

“And he looks forward to enhancing that understanding, and the opportunity for a visit in the future,” Tillerson said.

“We know that through further dialogue we will achieve a greater understanding that will lead to a strengthened, strengthening of the ties between China and the United States and set the tone for our future relationship of cooperation.”

Trump said in a tweet on Friday that North Korea is “behaving very badly.”

“They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years,” he tweeted. “China has done little to help.”