PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday held a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump and discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Syria.

    Xi said that China sticks to the target of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that China is committed to the peace and stability of the peninsula.

    China holds that the issue should be solved through peaceful means, said Xi, adding that his country is ready to maintain communication and coordination with the United States on the issue.

    On Syria, Xi said that any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable and that the path of political settlement should be followed.

    He expressed the hope that the U.N. Security Council would speak in one voice as it is important for the Security Council to remain united over the issue.

    Xi also asked teams of China and the United States to work together closely to make sure that Trump’s visit to China later this year could achieve fruitful results.

    He expressed the hope that the newly established four-pronged dialogue mechanism, which covers the fields of foreign affairs and security, economy, law enforcement and cybersecurity, and social and people-to-people exchanges, will yield as many results as possible.

    In the phone conversation, Trump said the meeting with Xi at Mar-a-Lago was a success. It is very important for the two presidents to maintain close communication, he added.

    Trump agreed that the two sides should work together to promote pragmatic cooperation in wide-ranging areas.

    He said he was looking forward to his state visit to China this year.

    The two presidents agreed to keep close communication through all kinds of channels.

    (Xinhua)