Chinese leader Xi issues a positive message at a meeting with US business leaders as ties improve

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for closer trade ties with the U.S. during a meeting with top American business leaders in Beijing. BEIJING - China's nationalist leader, Xi Jinping, called for closer trade ties with the U.S. during a meeting on Wednesday with top American business leaders in Beijing that came amid a steady improvement in relations that had sunk to the lowest level in years. Xi emphasized the mutually beneficial economic ties between the world's two largest economies, despite heavy U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and Washington's accusations of undue Communist Party influence, unfair trade barriers and theft of intellectual property. "Sino-U.S. relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. Whether China and the United States cooperate or confront each other has a bearing on the well-being of the two peoples and the future and destiny of mankind," Xi was cited as saying by China's official Xinhua News Agency. U.S. officials have renewed concerns over Chinese industrial policy practices and overcapacity, and the resulting impact on U.S. workers and companies, that they blame in part on China's massive trade surplus that amounted to more than $279 billion last year, its lowest level in about a decade. Following the meeting, the U.S.-China Business Council said in a statement that it was honored to have a dialogue with the country's top leader to "Discuss our concerns over the decline in trade, investment, and business confidence, as well as our desire to help improve engagement and commercial exchange between our two countries." Officials such as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken have visited, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is reportedly due to to travel to China again to meet top leaders next month.