Boeing Co. has begun shipping commercial jets to China for the first time since early April, indicating a reopening of trade flows amid the long-simmering tariff war between the US and Asia’s biggest economy.

President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on Thursday, and both countries pledged to restart tariff and trade talks in the coming days. Trump hailed the call as "positive," with both leaders inviting the other to visit their respective countries.

China and France have agreed to resolve their trade disputes through dialogue, China's foreign ministry said on Friday, though there was no indication that agreement had been reached in talks on lifting Chinese levies on European brandy.

The US is using its dominance of a niche petroleum gas as a bargaining chip in its trade war with China. America supplies China with almost all of its ethane, a product of the shale boom that’s used as a building block for making plastics.

Canada and China have reached a diplomatic detente, after years of testy relations and with President Trump targeting both countries with hefty tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney said a call he held with Chinese Premier Li Qiang marks the start of “recalibrating the relationship with China.

China's allegations come after President Trump on Friday accused the Chinese of violating a May 12 trade pact.

By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -China has signalled for more than 15 years that it was looking to weaponise areas of the global supply chain, a strategy modelled on longstanding American export controls Beijing views as aimed at stalling its rise.

U.S. drug companies are increasingly licensing experimental medicines invented by Chinese firms. Recent deals could be worth up to $25 billion.