A top Chinese diplomat has said President Xi Jinping plans to make his first state visit to the US later this year, Chinese state media reported on Monday, The Guardian reported Monday.
The official China Daily newspaper quoted China’s ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai as saying Chinese and US officials were discussing the visit. Cui told Chinese reporters on Sunday that no date had been determined yet.
The US national security adviser Susan Rice said on Friday that the US had invited both Xi and the Japanese president, Shinzo Abe, for state visits.
Xi last met with the US president, Barack Obama, in November after an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Beijing. The two also met in Rancho Mirage, California, during a more informal visit to the US in June 2013.
The US and China have been working together on a range of high-profile issues, including pledging in November to cut back on their emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. The world’s biggest economies have also clashed diplomatically on several fronts such as accusations over cyber-espionage and Chinese actions asserting its territorial claims in the East and South China seas.