China’s government flat-out said on Monday that President Xi Jinping has not spoken with President Trump recently, killing any idea once again that the two leaders were secretly chatting to fix their trade war.

China's foreign ministry said on Monday the presidents of China the United States "didn't have a call recently," when asked about Donald Trump saying in an interview with Time magazine that Xi Jinping has called him.

Beijing and Washington have contradicted each other about whether President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have spoken in recent weeks regarding the newly placed tariffs. The president has said they’ve been in communication to discuss the back-and-forth tariffs that rocked the global markets,