United States President Donald Trump has hailed his Wednesday phone call with his key trade rival, China’s President Xi Jinping, in which they discussed a wide range of issues, as “excellent”.But while Trump, who hopes to persuade China to further isolate Iran, claimed after the call that China had promised to increase the volume of soya beans it buys from the US, Xi appeared more concerned with warning the US to stay away from Taiwan.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIn a post on his Truth Social website, Trump described the conversation as “excellent” and claimed the two countries are on friendly terms. Relations between the two countries have been rocky, however, and last year, Trump instigated a bitter trade war with Beijing.“The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way,” Trump wrote in his post on Wednesday.The two leaders were understood to have discussed a planned trip by the US president to Beijing later this year, Trump said, adding that he was “looking forward to it”.China reacted in a more muted manner to the call, with state media reporting that both sides discussed opportunities to meet in the coming year. There was no mention of Trump’s visit to Beijing, nor of buying soya beans.According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi told Trump that he was willing to “work with you to steer the giant ship of Chi …
