Added to the high-tension weekend are fears that North Korea may conduct a nuclear test Tuesday, when the country celebrates the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army.
China is increasingly anxious the situation may spin out of control, leading to war and a chaotic collapse of its isolated and poverty-struck neighbor.
The call between Trump and the Chinese president comes amid heightened tensions between the USA and North Korea, with both sides floating the possibility of military action against one another.
Tensions have risen sharply in recent months, with Washington and its allies fearing Pyongyang could conduct another nuclear missile test or launch more ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations sanctions.
"Xi noted that if the parties shoulder their due responsibilities and meet each other halfway, they can solve the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula", Xinhua added. Trump has reportedly settled on a strategy that emphasizes increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China.
"China hopes to work with relevant parties including the U.S. to make the contribution to keep the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula", Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said at a briefing Monday.
Last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests, which would have improved its knowledge in making nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles.
"On the other hand, China has proposed a "double suspension" [of North Korea's nuclear and missile activities and of the US and South Korea's joint military exercises] but neither of the parties has been listening", the editorial said, emphasizing the "difficult situation" in which China finds itself.
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Leading presidential candidates have urged greater counterterrorism measures in a campaign already under a state of emergency. He said the goal of terrorists was to "destabilize" the country. "I'm ready, I'll be relentless in protecting you".
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described his conversation with Trump as intense.
Abe also said he and Trump agreed that China should play a large role in dealing with it.
"We will maintain close contact with the United States, keep a high level of vigilance and respond firmly", he said.
A South Korean F-15K jet fighter takes off during the "Max Thunder" South Korea-US military joint air exercise at a US air base in the southwestern port city of Gunsan on April 20, 2017.
A Japanese official said the phone call between Trump and Abe was not prompted by any specific change in the situation.
The U.S. government has not specified where the carrier strike group is, but U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday it would arrive "within days".
For its part, the Trump administration insists all options - including a military strike - are on the table. Without referring to China by name, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said 21 April that "the country is talking rubbish that the DPRK has to reconsider the importance of relations with it" and that China was "dancing to the tune" of the US. Analysts said earlier this month that North Korea's only nuclear site is "primed and ready" for another test.
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