The call follows officials in Beijing and Washington accusing each other of jeopardising a trade war truce agreed last month in Geneva.

It took place at Trump's request, the Xinhua news agency said without elaborating, and came after the US president appeared to dampen hopes for a quick resolution to their trade battle.

"I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!" he posted Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.

The White House did not immediately comment on the reported phone call, but had earlier suggested Trump would speak to Xi.

Until Thursday, the two leaders had not had any confirmed contact more than five months since the Republican returned to power, despite frequent claims by the US president that such a call was imminent.

Trump said in a Time Magazine interview in April that Xi had called him -- but Beijing insisted that there had been no call recently.

- Trading blame on deal -

Although Beijing and Washington agreed in Geneva to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other's goods for 90 days, the two sides have since traded blame for derailing the deal.

Trump argued Friday that China had "totally violated" the agreement, without providing further details.

China's commerce ministry hit back this week, saying the Trump administration had since introduced "discriminatory restrictive measures", including revoking Chinese student visas in the United States.

Washington has targeted Chinese nationals who entered the United States both legally and illegally, with the president vowing to aggressively revoke Chinese student visas.

The US leader introduced in April sweeping worldwide tariffs that targeted China most heavily of all, accusing other countries of "ripping off" the United States and running trade imbalances.

Trump put a pause on the steepest levies, sparking a flurry of negotiations with trading partners.

China had been hit with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China's countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent.

Trump has separately ramped up tensions with other trade partners, including the European Union, by vowing to double global tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 percent from Wednesday.

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TIME INC.