Trump says he’ll visit China ‘early next year’, signals thaw after months of trade tension

United States President Donald Trump says he plans to visit China early next year after receiving a formal invitation from Beijing, a move that could mark a turning point in one of the world’s most consequential relationships.

“I’ve been invited to go to China, and I’ll be doing that sometime fairly early next year. We have it sort of set,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.

The president added that he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month in South Korea, where the two leaders could seal what he called a “fair” trade deal.

The announcement comes just days after relations hit their lowest point in years: Beijing imposed new rare earth export curbs, and Trump responded by threatening to slap 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent escalated tensions last week, accusing China of “pointing a bazooka at the supply chains and the industrial base of the entire free world.”

But on Monday, Trump struck a softer tone, saying both nations “need to thrive together.” He singled out US soybean farmers, who have been among the hardest hit by the trade conflict, saying he hoped Beijing would resume large-scale purchases.

Soybean futures in Chicago rose to their highest level in a month following his comments.

Trump also downplayed Pentagon concerns that China may attempt to seize Taiwan by 2027, a timeline recently cited in US intelligence assessments.

“I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,” Trump said, standing alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his White House visit.

He described Taiwan as “the apple of Xi’s eye,” but insisted Beijing would be deterred from any aggressive move because “the US is the strongest military power in the world by far.”

“We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that,” he said.

Trump declined to say whether he would consider scaling back Washington’s support for Taiwan as part of a future deal with Xi.

Beijing, meanwhile, has warned Washington against “playing with fire” over Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that Taiwan remains part of China’s territory and that any effort to “use the Taiwan question as a bargaining chip” would be met with a strong response.

Taiwan, a self-governing democracy and global technology hub, has pledged to strengthen its defences. Earlier this month, President William Lai Ching-te announced plans to build a dome-like air defence system to counter what he called “hostile threats” from across the strait.