President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him, and there are active talks to strike a trade deal, according to Time. But a Chinese official has denied that any such talks are happening.

Standing outside his friend’s cupcake shop, he says Donald Trump’s levies are a sign that America feels threatened by China’s rise. America’s power is declining, he says. “What you feel in today’s world is that hegemony is very hard to achieve.

China’s leader started a week of diplomacy in Southeast Asia to signal China’s commitment to global trade after U.S. President Trump upended the global economy.