China has maintained a cool head regarding President Donald Trump's "America First" policies, according to a former People's Bank of China member.

"China tries to watch what kind of policies President Trump can implement, rather than what he promised," Li Daokui, a former academic member of the Monetary Policy Committee for the PBoC, told CNBC Saturday at the China Development Forum.

In the meantime, Beijing has effectively used both informal and formal channels to communicate with the White House, added Li, who is currently the Mansfield Freeman Chair Professor at Tsinghua University.

"People used to worry a lot, a few months ago, two months ago, even one month ago about what Trump would do to the relationship. But so far, the Sino-U.S. relation has been the best, I think even better, perhaps, than the U.S.-Australian relationship," the former central banker said, adding that indications suggested Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Florida will be an "informal conversation" held "between friends."