China ready to improve ties with US during Trump's first visit

BEIJING: China is ready to achieve important results during US President Donald Trump's maiden visit to the country next week which a senior Chinese diplomat said will inject strong impetus to the development of bilateral ties.

Trump will visit Beijing at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping from November 8 to 10, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.

The two heads of the state will exchange in-depth views on China-US relations and major global and regional issues of common concern, Lu said.

He said China stands ready to work with the US to achieve important results for Trump's visit and his meeting with Xi, in order to inject new and strong impetus to the development of bilateral ties.

The two countries have grappled to deal with deepening crisis over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

China has faced mounting pressure from the Trump administration to rein in its close ally Pyongyang.

Trump's visit to China will come after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Beijing last month. He conveyed Trump's greetings to the Chinese president, saying the US president was looking forward to his visit to China.

The US has been accusing China of violating international rules and norms by laying claims on the disputed South and East China seas.

China claims sovereignty on almost all of the South China Sea (SCS) which is disputed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China has also laid claims on the Senkaku islands under the control of Japan in East China Sea and resorted to aggressive patrols in the last two years.

The US calls the dominance of China over the SCS a threat to national interest in freedom of navigation.

Tillerson has said China's "provocative actions" challenge international law and norms.

The US has also asked China to provide fair and reciprocal treatment to its firms and cease "predatory" trade and investment practices.

Trump had asked his country's top trade official in August to probe into Chinese trade practices with focus on intellectual property (IP) and advanced technology.

"I'm directing the United States Trade Representative to examine China's policies, practices, and actions with regard to the forced transfers of American technology and the theft of American intellectual property," Trump had said as he signed a memorandum in this regard.