China indicated on Monday that President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to the United States in September is on track, and said Beijing and Washington are maintaining communication on high-level exchanges despite recent tensions arising from US President Donald Trump’s allegations of Chinese interference in the US elections.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the two sides have “maintained communication regarding the arrangements for the heads-of-state talks later this year”, while describing the leader-level diplomacy as providing “irreplaceable strategic guidance” for China-US relations.Lin’s comments came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hoped Xi’s visit would proceed as planned. “Our estimate is that the trip is going to happen in September,” Rubio said before leaving for the Philippines for ASEAN meetings. He said that Chinese teams are continuing preparations. South China Morning Post.The comments show the two sides are trying to maintain diplomatic engagement despite renewed tensions after Trump accused Beijing of obtaining millions of American voter records and interfering in US elections. China has rejected the allegations, calling them fabricated and reiterated that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.Lin declined to confirm whether Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi would meet with Rubio on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Manila this week. He confirmed that Wang will attend an ASEAN meeting on July 22 before traveling to Kyrgyzstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers’ meeting from July 23 to 25.Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu is expected to visit Washington and Miami to help prepare for Xi’s proposed visit, according to earlier media reports.Trump had invited Xi for a reciprocal visit during his visit to Beijing earlier this year and the invitation was accepted. However, some Chinese analysts pointed out South China Morning Post Trump’s recent allegations and increasingly extreme rhetoric could complicate preparations for the trip.Zhao Minghao, a professor at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, told the newspaper that Trump’s tough public stance is aimed at demonstrating resolve on China ahead of this year’s US midterm elections and could affect the broader trajectory of bilateral relations.