US President Donald Trump left Beijing on Friday after talks, a temple tour and tea with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with their discussions ranging from trade to the Middle East.
Here are five takeaways from the two-day superpower summit:
– Deals struck? –
Trump said he made “fantastic trade deals” with Xi, who referenced reaching a “consensus”.
But there have been no official announcements or details from either side.
Trump was after big purchases by China of American planes and farm goods — a key issue for his domestic base.
After leaving Beijing, the US president told reporters on Air Force One that China would be “buying billions of dollars of soybeans”.
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He added China had agreed to buy “over 200 planes from Boeing with a promise of 750 planes… if they do a good job with the 200, which I’m sure they will.”
Trump told Fox News after day one of the summit that Xi had also agreed to buy more American oil.
China’s foreign ministry did not confirm or deny any purchase agreements when asked at a news briefing shortly after the US leader’s departure.
Meanwhile a surprise omission from the agenda was tariffs — the leaders had been expected to discuss extending a trade truce reached last October.
Trump said the matter hadn’t come up.
– Opening Hormuz –
China has described the United States’ ongoing war in Iran as “illegal” and has repeatedly called for its end.
It has quietly acted as mediator, with Beijing hosting Iran’s foreign minister a week before Trump’s visit and taking calls from several Gulf nations.
Trump said that during Thursday’s talks, Xi agreed to help re-open the vital Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely blocked by Iran since the US and Israel began striking the country on February 28.
“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy,” the White House said.
China is directly affected by the strait’s blockade and has long advocated for safe transit through it.
More than half of the crude imported by sea to China comes from the Middle East, according to maritime analytics firm Kpler.
However, China’s foreign ministry did not comment when asked if Xi had told Trump he would help re-open the waterway.
– Taiwan? No comment –
China claims the self-governed island of 23 million people as its territory, and considers it a red-line issue in diplomacy.
Friction between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan runs deep, as the United States serves as Taipei’s main arms supplier.
In unusually blunt remarks, Xi warned Trump in their first bilateral meeting that mishandling Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict”, framing it as the most important issue imperilling the US-China relationship.
Analysts had suggested before the summit that Beijing saw an opportunity to angle for a change to the established US position on the island.
Trump said Xi asked if Washington would defend Taiwan in case of a conflict and that he responded: “I don’t talk about that.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC on Thursday that “US policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged”.
– ‘Milestone’ –
Trump heaped praise on Xi throughout the trip, addressing the Chinese leader as “friend” and a “great leader”, and inviting him to the United States in September.
Xi refrained from matching Trump’s public affection, though in a sign of goodwill said he would send some Chinese rose seeds to the White House as Trump admired the flora in the exclusive Zhongnanhai leadership compound.
The Chinese president did call the visit a “milestone”, hailing a new official line of “constructive strategic stability” to define the US-China relationship for the next three years.
“This is not merely a procedural consensus but a major strategic re‑positioning. It defines how the two great powers should coexist… setting clear guardrails for managing frictions while expanding shared interests,” said Dong Wang, a professor at Peking University.
“Even as differences over advanced technology and geopolitics remain, both sides now operate under this new strategic consensus to avoid misjudgement and miscalculation,” he said.
The term “can be seen as progress compared with ‘strategic competition’ for (Trump predecessor Joe) Biden’s era”, noted The Asia Group’s George Chen.
After Trump’s departure from China, state news agency Xinhua reported that Beijing’s top diplomat said Xi is expected to visit the United States in autumn.
– Human rights –
Ahead of the trip, Trump was urged to raise human rights issues with Xi, chiefly the cases of an imprisoned pastor Ezra Jin and jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
“I think (Xi is) giving very serious consideration to the pastor,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
But on Lai, a dual-British citizen who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of foreign collusion and sedition, Trump grimaced.
“I did bring it up (to Xi),” Trump told reporters.
“He said Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him.”
China’s foreign ministry reiterated Friday that it considers Lai “the principal mastermind and perpetrator” behind huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests that roiled Hong Kong in 2019.
“Compared to the long list of issues the US and China need to resolve, I think the objective reality is this: (Lai’s case) is not a top priority” for either side, said Wilson Chan from Hong Kong policy think tank Pagoda Institute.
