Cooperation is the only choice, Xi tells US president-elect

Beijing

CHINESE President Xi Jinping told US president-elect Donald Trump that cooperation was the only choice for relations between the world's two largest economies, with Mr Trump saying the two had established a "clear sense of mutual respect".

Mr Trump lambasted China throughout the US election campaign, drumming up headlines with his pledges to slap 45 per cent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and to label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

His election has injected uncertainty into relations at a time when Beijing hopes for stability as it faces daunting reform challenges at home, slowing growth and a leadership reshuffle of its own that will put a new party elite ar…