US, China leaders hail progress after first meeting

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart on Friday hailed progress in U.S.-Sino relations following their first bilateral meeting.

Speaking after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said the leaders share an "outstanding" relationship.

"We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China," Trump said without elaborating on specifics, similar to how Xi framed their meeting.

Xi said they "arrived at many common understandings, the most important being deepening our friendship and building a kind of trust in keeping with the Sino-US working relationship and friendship”.

"I believe that with the passage of time we will make efforts to bear our great historical responsibility for promoting the development of Sino-US relations, to create prosperity for both countries and their people and to uphold global peace and stability," he said.

The leaders met amid a host of thorny issues, including regional maritime disputes, Chinese base building in disputed islands, and the recent deployment of a U.S. air defense system to South Korea that Beijing fears could be used for espionage.

U.S. officials are expected to offer a readout of the meeting later Friday.