When Donald Trump escalated trade tension with China this month, Xi Jinping cited a Chinese saying in vowing to defend global trade rules. “When the sky falls, big men must hold it up,” he said in private meetings, according to four people briefed on his remarks.
The Chinese president and his top advisers, including vice-president Wang Qishan and vice-premier Liu He, were initially confident the US and China could bridge their differences through talks, according to people who have recently met them.
“China and the US are like an old married couple. We fight a lot but we still need each other,” Lou Jiwei, a former finance minister, said in a closed-door exchange with an international delegation in late March, according to two people briefed on the meeting.