BEIJING
China’s President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to the U.S. in September, state media reported Wednesday.
Xi spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama by telephone Wednesday and accepted an invitation to travel to the U.S., Xinhua news agency said.
The agency reported that Xi and Obama “agreed to make full preparations to ensure the success of the trip.”
Although relations between the world’s two biggest economies are sometimes strained, under their respective presidents they have been cooperating on several issues. Obama visited Beijing in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where he talked separately to Xi for a day.
The meeting saw the two countries agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as producing several trade-related initiatives.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken is currently meeting Chinese officials in Beijing.
Despite relatively warm relations, the two rivals still clash over issues such as the U.S.’s military relationship with countries in what China sees as its backyard, particularly Japan and South Korea.
Over the past year, allegations of cyber spying and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea have also raised tensions.
Obama called for “swift work” to narrow the countries’ differences on cyber issues during the phone call, the White House said in a statement. The leaders also discussed the fight against the Ebola virus in West Africa and global security, particularly nuclear talks with Iran.
Xi met Obama at an informal summit in California in June 2013.
