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Leader Donald Trump has declared that he will visit Beijing in spring and asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit next year, after a telephone conversation between the two leaders.

Trump and Xi—who convened about a month back in South Korea—talked about a series of matters including commerce, the situation in Ukraine, the opioid crisis, and Taiwan, per the U.S. leader and China's foreign ministry.

"The U.S.-China ties is extremely strong!" Trump stated in a online message.

Beijing's press outlet issued a comment that said both states should "maintain progress, progress in the correct path on the principle of fairness, mutual respect and mutual benefit".

Prior Engagement and Commerce Progress

The leaders convened in Busan, South Korea in last October, after which they settled on a pause on tariffs. The US decided to reduce a 20% tariff by half intended to decrease the supply of fentanyl.

Tariffs stay on imports and stand at just below 50%.

"Since then, the bilateral relations has generally maintained a steady and positive trajectory, and this is welcomed by the both nations and the broader international community," the Chinese statement noted.

• The US then pulled back a threat of 100% additional tariffs on Chinese goods, while China delayed its plan to implement its new set of restrictions on rare earths.

Commerce Discussions

Official representative Karoline Leavitt said that the recent conversation with Xi—which took around 60 minutes—was focused on trade.

"The U.S. is happy with what we've observed from the Chinese, and they share that sentiment," she said.

Additional Issues

In addition to talking about commerce, Xi and Trump broached the topics of the conflict in Ukraine and Taiwan.

Xi informed Trump that the island's "reunification with China" is critical for China's vision for the "post-war international order".

The Chinese government has been part of a diplomatic battle with Japan, a U.S. friend, over the longstanding "uncertain policy" on the control of Taiwan.

In the past few weeks, Tokyo's head Sanae Takaichi commented that a potential assault from Beijing on the island could force a response from Japan's forces.

Trump, though, did not mention the Taiwan issue in his social media update about the discussion.

US Ambassador to Japan, George Glass, noted before that the U.S. government supports the Japanese in the context of China's "coercion".