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Beijing: Donald Trump has wound up a two-day visit to Beijing that delivered numerous displays of goodwill between the US president and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, but few definitive trade deals.
Trump and Xi on Friday held a second round of talks and walked together in Zhongnanhai, the secretive headquarters of the ruling Communist Party and residence of its top leaders.
In his opening remarks at the compound, Trump said his visit to Beijing had allowed the two powers to stabilise their relations.
“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to settle. And the relationship is a very strong one. We’ve really done wonderful things, I believe,” Trump said.
He insisted that both countries were on the same page on the situation in Iran.
“We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar, and we want that to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon, we want the straits open.”
However, it remains unclear whether Trump secured any firm commitments from Xi for China to leverage its relationship with Tehran and play a more interventionist role in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The leaders took a short walk through the grounds that feature ancient trees and Chinese roses, and strolled through a covered passageway with green columns and archways painted with birds and traditional Chinese mountain scenes.
Xi characterised Trump’s visit as a “milestone” that has “established a new bilateral relationship, or rather a constructive, strategic, stable relationship”.
Despite the optimistic tone, no concrete deals were announced by either party as the US president headed back to Washington, DC. And while there was some common ground on Iran, Xi issued a clear warning at the start of the summit over the status of Taiwan, illustrating why the topic remains the biggest point of friction between the two countries.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that American policy towards Taiwan remained “unchanged” and framed Xi’s comments as standard practice.
“They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics,” said Rubio, who was among senior aides to join Trump for the talks.
While trade announcements were lacking, the Trump administration is confident the summit will deliver wins.
Trump told Fox News on Thursday that he had struck “fantastic trade deals” during an “incredible” visit. “A lot of good has come of it,” he said, including deals that were “great for both countries”.
He said China had agreed to buy 200 Boeing aircraft, far fewer than the 500-plane package expected by analysts.
Expectations of China buying more US agricultural products were particularly touted by the Trump administration ahead of the final meeting between the leaders.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Bloomberg Television on Friday that China would commit to billions in American agricultural purchases.
“We expect to also see an agreement for double-digit billion purchases of ags over the next three years, per year, coming out of this visit, and that’s more general, that’s aggregate, that’s not just soybeans, that’s everything else,” Greer said.
Heading into the meetings, US officials had floated the creation of a so-called “Board of Trade”, pitching it as a mechanism to put trade tensions between the two countries to simmer by reducing levies and trade barriers on non-critical goods.
Greer, who accompanied Trump on the trip, also commented on the latest warning regarding Taiwan by Xi, as reported by Chinese media, saying that the tone during the meetings had not been sharp.
“I don’t expect the Taiwan issue to bleed into [the] Board of Trade. I just don’t,” Greer told Bloomberg Television.
“We’ve known for a long time that the Taiwan issue is of key importance to the Chinese.”
On Thursday, Trump and Xi ended day one of their summit with a banquet at the Great Hall of the People.
Both leaders gave toasts, with Xi weaving in a MAGA reference while keeping to a very tight script that hit the usual talking points about co-operation rather than confrontation.
“The people of China and the United States are both great peoples; achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand,” Xi said.
Trump was similarly on-message and did not veer from a pre-written speech, which touched on China’s historical influence in America, noting that founding father Benjamin Franklin published Confucius’ sayings in his colonial newspaper.
“Many Chinese now love basketball and blue jeans,” Trump said.
“Chinese restaurants in America today now outnumber the five largest fast-food chains in the United States, all combined. That’s a pretty big statement.”
He finished the toast by inviting Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House in September.
The guests dined on a fusion of Chinese and Western dishes, featuring Beijing roast duck – China’s national dish – and beef ribs, lobster in tomato soup, stewed seasonal vegetables, slow-cooked salmon in mustard sauce and pan-fried pork buns.
There was tiramisu, fruit, ice-cream and a “trumpet-shell shaped pastry for dessert”.
With wires
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Lisa Visentin is the North Asia correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Beijing. She was previously a federal political correspondent based in Canberra.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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