Trump praises friendship with Xi Jinping

"He works for China, I work for America, but we love each other. We've been through a very difficult time, but now things are better than ever," US President Donald Trump said of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland today.

Trump’s comments came nearly a week after the signing of the phase one trade deal between Washington and Beijing at the White House on January 15. Under the deal, China agreed to buy an additional $200 billion in American goods and services, strengthen intellectual property protections, and stabilize the yuan. In return, the US agreed to not impose new tariffs on Chinese goods and reduce some existing tariffs.

"Before I was elected, China's theft was crippling trade, but nobody did anything, making things worse. Under my leadership, the United States has taken on this problem," Trump said, adding that the phase two deal would enter negotiations "very quickly."

However, shortly after the signing ceremony of the phase one deal, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said that it would be "imprudent" to start a new round of negotiations immediately, adding that both sides should focus on implementing the terms of the agreement just signed.

The White House boss has repeatedly praised his friendship with the Chinese President, such as in April 2018 when he tweeted that "Mr. Xi and I will always be friends." Meanwhile, Mr. Xi rarely publicly expressed his personal feelings for Trump, although he did call the US President "my friend" at an economic forum in Russia last year.

However, the relationship between the two leaders seems to have cooled after the trade negotiations stalled. Trump said on January 15 that the two sides signed a phase one trade agreement to "work together to correct past mistakes."