Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump are signaling a thaw in US-China relations, with Xi highlighting positive momentum in trade ties during a Monday phone call. The timing is interesting because Washington is simultaneously weighing whether to let Nvidia Corp (NVDA) resume selling advanced AI chips to China after years of restrictive export controls.

Building on the South Korea Framework

During the call, Xi told Trump that bilateral trade relations have maintained positive momentum and emphasized that both countries should expand their areas of cooperation, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conversation, which hadn't been previously disclosed, builds on a framework agreement the two leaders reached in South Korea back in October aimed at easing persistent trade tensions.

That October framework was fairly specific: Washington agreed not to slap 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, while Beijing promised to hold off on export licensing restrictions for critical rare earth minerals. Not exactly a complete reset of the relationship, but a foundation to work from.

Trump's Take on the Conversation

Trump took to Truth Social to describe the call as "very good," saying they covered everything from Ukraine and Russia to fentanyl and US farm products like soybeans. He characterized the conversation as a follow-up to their South Korea meeting and wrote, "Our relationship with China is extremely strong! … We agreed that it is important that we communicate often, which I look forward to doing."

Trump also revealed that he plans to visit Beijing in April at Xi's invitation and has extended a reciprocal invitation for Xi to make a US state visit later this year. The diplomatic dance continues.

Nvidia's Potential China Comeback

The trade optimism comes as the Trump administration considers allowing Nvidia to resume sales of its high-end H200 AI chips to China. The Commerce Department is reviewing previous restrictions that blocked these exports over national security concerns, which is a pretty significant shift in policy.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hasn't been shy about the impact of the export bans. He previously said the company's China business had collapsed, with its market share cratering from 95% to essentially zero under the restrictions. Huang called the situation "not ideal for anyone," which might be the understatement of the year when you're talking about losing essentially an entire market overnight.

If the restrictions are lifted, it would represent a major win for Nvidia and potentially signal a broader shift in how the US approaches technology exports to China. The question is whether Washington can balance economic interests with legitimate national security concerns about advanced AI chip technology ending up in Chinese military applications.

Despite the China challenges, Nvidia continues to post strong momentum, growth and quality scores, maintaining a solid long-term uptrend even as it navigates short and mid-term volatility.