Top-level meeting can forge good personal rapport

There has been much speculation about what issues should be resolved, or even talked about, when President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump meet at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. However, the goal of their first meeting should be to build a good personal relationship that facilitates a constructive and productive relationship between the two countries.

This is especially true given that the Trump administration is less than 80 days in office, with many official positions yet to be filled and several cabinet nominees still to be confirmed.

The new US administration has not rolled out a comprehensive foreign policy and trade policy, except what Trump had said on the campaign trail, or tweeted or mentioned in casual conversations since his inauguration.