China said it hopes for cooperation with the United States to resolve trade issues, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as US president.

"China is willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the United States, properly manage differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news briefing on Tuesday.

"It is hoped that the United States will work with China to jointly promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations."

Trump on Monday warned that he could impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico next month, but appeared to delay any action against China for now.

In his inauguration speech, Trump did not target China nor did he immediately impose tariffs as previously promised.

At the same time, he directed federal agencies to "investigate and remedy" persistent US trade deficits and unfair trade practices by other countries, and said he might impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1.

Guo also said China will firmly maintain its national interests, but at the same time it is necessary for senior officials of both countries to maintain contact in an appropriate manner.

He was responding to a question on whether Beijing would drop its sanctions on the newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was among a group of American officials sanctioned by China in 2020 over Hong Kong and Xinjiang issues.

On TikTok, Trump on Monday signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of a ban on the popular short-video app, but said he might impose tariffs on China if Beijing does not approve a potential US deal with TikTok.

The order kept TikTok operating for 75 days, a relief to the social media platform’s users.

Speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump said he was seeking a 50-50 partnership between the US government and ByteDance, though he did not provide details on how this could be achieved.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok,” he said.

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s CEO, attended Trump’s inauguration, seated with American tech heavyweights.

The platform went offline before the ban approved by Congress and upheld by the US Supreme Court took effect on Sunday. After Trump promised he would pause the ban, TikTok restored access for existing users. Google and Apple, however, still have not reinstated TikTok to their app stores.

Meanwhile, Trump said he could travel to China as soon as this year.

Asked by a reporter if he would travel to China this year, the US leader said, "Yeah, could be. I've had the invite." (Agencies)
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Last updated: 2025-01-21 HKT 16:09