Trump sends greetings to Xi, anticipates visit

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong is greeted by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos during a working breakfast at the State Department on Thursday in Washington. ANDREW HARNIK / AP

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong told US President Donald Trump on Thursday that Beijing is ready to work with Washington to make his first state visit to China a "successful, historic" one.

During their meeting at the White House, Liu also conveyed President Xi Jinping's greetings to President Trump, who in return asked Liu to send his greetings to Xi.

Trump said he is very much looking forward to his China trip and meeting with President Xi again.

The two presidents have met twice this year, in Mar-a-Lago in Florida in April and in Hamburg, Germany during the G20 summit in July.

Trump said he believes the visit would be a great success, according to a press release from China's Foreign Ministry.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has left for Beijing to prepare for Trump's visit later on the day. It will be Tillerson's second trip to China as secretary of state.

Liu also told Trump that the first US-China Social and Cultural Dialogue has yielded positive results, thanks to the concerted efforts of the two sides.

The dialogue, one of four cabinet-level dialogues agreed to by Trump and Xi at their Florida meeting, was co-chaired by Liu and Tillerson on Thursday and focused on the theme of "living together for the next 50 years based on mutual understanding".

Liu said she hoped the two sides will implement the consensus of the presidents by giving full display to the role of cultural exchange in building stronger social and public support for the development of Sino-US relations.

Trump also stressed the importance of US-China social and cultural exchange, saying that he hoped the two sides would expand exchange and cooperation in various areas, according to the press release.

Heather Nauert, spokeswoman for the US State Department, said the inaugural US-China Social and Cultural Dialogue was "terrific".

"That dialogue focused on advancing cooperation in seven areas: education, social development, science and technology, health, subnational, arts and culture, and environment and conservation," she said.

The two sides committed to safeguarding global health security and support for educational exchanges, particularly the US-China Fulbright Program, she said.

At the dialogue on Thursday, the vice-premier said that for the US-China exchanges to move steadily over time, they should lay a solid foundation for Sino-US relations by considering the development of the bilateral relationship in the next 50 years.

The two sides also should respect each other's development path and social system as well as each other's sovereignty, security and benefits, Liu said. They should also complement each other, increase common ground and reduce differences.

Both governments also should set up platforms and policy support to facilitate public participation in the exchanges.

Tillerson said at the dialogue that great achievements have been made in the social and cultural exchanges between the two countries in recent years.

He said the US is ready to expand exchange and cooperation in various social and cultural areas, which is of great importance to the bilateral relationship, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry.

The two sides issued a joint declaration after the first dialogue and the First China-US Social and Cultural Dialogue Action Plan, which details at least 130 projects for the two sides to implement.

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com