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Donald Trump made his first phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since leaving the White House in 2021, with the two leaders discussing the future of TikTok before the Supreme Court issued a ban on the app in the US.

The talks between the leaders were the first in four years and came two days before the law came into effect, forcing software stores to stop offering it to users.

“I just spoke with Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was very good for China and the USA,” Trump wrote on his Truth social media page on Friday. “We talked about balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything we can to make the world peaceful and safe!”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two leaders agreed to “set up a communication system for regular communication on important shared issues”.

Although it gave a positive impression of the invitation, the ministry said Xi had warned Trump that the US should respond to the “Taiwan question” wisely.

Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has refused to stop using force to seize the island.

TrumpetThe incoming national security team has been in contact with Beijing, but the call between the Chinese leader and the incoming US president marks the first meeting between the two men in four years.

The call comes three days before Trump’s inauguration in a ceremony hosted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, the first time a Chinese official has attended a US inauguration.

The The Financial Times reported last week that Xi sent a delegation to Washington after Trump invited the Chinese leader to attend the event.

Some Trump advisers expect Beijing to send Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo who is closest to Xi and has more power than Han, who sometimes represents Xi at events.

Washington and Beijing are waiting to see what kind of China policy Trump will reveal at the beginning of his presidency. He has threatened to impose tariffs on goods from China and many other countries, but it is not clear if he will do so to gain an advantage in negotiations with Beijing or if he will start negotiating a trade agreement with China and spend money if the negotiations are held. without success.

The talks come two days before US app stores were forced to stop carrying TikTok, the video-sharing app that has been downloaded by more than 170mn Americans. The law – upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday morning – bans the app unless its Chinese owner ByteDance sells the platform.

Trump has expressed support for TikTok, raising questions about whether his administration will prosecute companies that violate the law.

The US-China relationship it was the lowest since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1979 during the Biden administration on issues ranging from US foreign policy to the Taiwan dispute.

While Biden and Xi have made progress in building relations over the past year, the two countries remain at odds over a number of issues, including China’s support for Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Trump has named several China hawks to serve in his administration, including Mike Waltz as US national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Scott Bessent, who was nominated to be the secretary of the Treasury, said this week that Trump will force China to buy more agricultural products from the US, such as corn and soybeans that were part of the trade agreement he made with China last time.

Mr Besent said Mr Trump would also be aggressive in imposing export restrictions that would affect China. Beijing has criticized Biden’s administration for imposing tougher rules on the export of chips and artificial intelligence technology to slow the evolution of the People’s Liberation Army.

But China experts are watching closely to see if some of the tech billionaires in Trump’s path, such as Elon Musk, will try to persuade the incoming president to act on the issue.