President Donald Trump has rescheduled his summit with Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for May 14 to 15, the White House announced Wednesday.
The summit, originally scheduled for March 30, was delayed because of the war in Iran.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump and first lady Melania Trump will also host Xi for a reciprocal visit in Washington “at a later date to be announced this year.”
The trip comes at a consequential moment in U.S.-China relations, as the two countries remain at odds across a range of issues, including trade, Taiwan and regional security, even as both governments have signaled an interest in maintaining steady lines of communication at the leadership level.
Trump and Xi last met in person in October on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Busan, South Korea.
Leavitt denied that the end of the war in Iran was a precondition to getting the meeting scheduled.
“There was a discussion about the rescheduling of the meeting,” she said, adding Xi “understood that it’s very important for the president to be here throughout these combat operations right now.”