Chinese 'love' Trump´s Mandarin-speaking granddaughter

BEIJING: While media coverage of Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday focused on trade and North Korea, it was the wide-eyed crooning of the US leader's granddaughter that stole Chinese citizens´ hearts.

In a video that Trump showed Xi during their stroll through the historic Forbidden City Wednesday, his granddaughter, Arabella Kushner, greets "Grandpa Xi and Grandma Peng (Liyuan)" with several Mandarin ballads and a recitation of ancient Chinese poetry.

China´s Xinhua state news agency, which circulated the clip widely on social media, reported that Xi said the six-year-old girl´s Mandarin skills deserved an "A+".

The Chinese public agreed, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"As a little ambassador of Chinese-American friendship, Arabella has already received the love of a vast number of Chinese people," Hua said during a regular press briefing Thursday.

"This kind of special arrangement is actually very sweet and warm-hearted. We believe that this has helped to further bring closer the affection and distance between the Chinese and American people."

Weibo, China´s Twitter-like platform, was filled with praise for Arabella´s performance Thursday, though it was unclear how many comments related to Trump´s visit have been censored.

"She´s too cute!" users gushed. "Let´s hope that she marries into a Chinese family."

Others made light of the fact that apparently no one can avoid the arduous task of memorising ancient Chinese poetry -- not even the US president´s granddaughter.

It´s not the first time Arabella has played a role in Sino-American diplomacy.

When Xi visited Trump´s Mar-a-Lago Florida resort in April, Arabella recited for Xi the "Three Character Classic", a time-honoured text from the Song Dynasty that was also included in her latest clip.

Ivanka Trump, Arabella´s mother and a White House adviser, has said in interviews that her children have a Chinese nanny who teaches them Mandarin.

Ivanka Trump frequently posts videos of Arabella speaking or singing in Chinese to her social media accounts, and she brought her daughter to a Lunar New Year event organised by the Chinese embassy in Washington.