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China to turn on charm to continue Trump-Xi 'bromance'

This article is more than 12 months old

BEIJING When they met at US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in April, China's President Xi Jinping found a way to charm the mercurial leader.

Mr Trump hailed the summit in Florida and predicted "lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away".

The bromance is likely to continue with Mr Xi set to lay out a lavish welcome for Mr Trump's visit starting Wednesday.

Mr Xi has grown more powerful since their last meeting, while Mr Trump is under a political cloud after his former campaign manager was indicted in an intensifying investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Chinese experts say Beijing has learnt to manage Mr Trump.

"China has an objective view of him. We're going to make him feel comfortable," said Mr Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University. "We need to look at this from a long-term perspective, and not view him as an 'other' or a joke."

On the commercial front, that means a slew of deals but also worries among some US businessmen that Mr Trump may be placated by a few contract wins instead of resolving long-time complaints over discriminatory Chinese policies and market access restrictions. - REUTERS

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