Readout of the President’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping of China

The President met today with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Lima, Peru.  The two leaders reflected on the significant progress they have achieved in strengthening the bilateral relationship through sustained engagement and focused efforts to manage differences responsibly and expand practical cooperation on regional and global challenges.  Both leaders took stock of joint accomplishments achieved over the past eight years in many spheres, including through U.S.-China joint leadership on climate change.  The leaders pointed to the recent entry into force of the Paris Agreement and the durable private sector momentum towards clean energy as examples of our two countries’ progress in helping to galvanize the international response to climate change that will provide an enduring benefit to the international community.

The two Presidents addressed the threat presented by North Korea’s efforts to advance its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile systems, and affirmed their firm commitment to achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  Both leaders committed to intensify cooperation in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including through full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2270 and other relevant Security Council resolutions.

The President encouraged China to advance reforms that will help it to shift to a sustainable, domestic consumption-driven economic model, including reforms of state-owned enterprises and efforts to strengthen its financial system, and transition to a market-determined exchange rate in an orderly manner.  The President also underscored the urgency of addressing excess capacity in industrial sectors, including by launching without delay the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity, in line with the G-20 Leaders’ agreement in Hangzhou, China.  The President affirmed the United States’ fundamental belief that nations are more successful and our world makes more progress when our companies compete on a level playing field, when territorial and maritime disputes are resolved peacefully, when norms of responsible state behavior in cyberspace are upheld, and when human rights and dignity are respected.

Both leaders acknowledged the uniquely consequential nature of U.S.-China relations and stressed the importance of continued mutual efforts to forge a more stable and productive bilateral relationship that delivers benefits for people in both countries and around the world.