President Donald Trump left China on Friday without major breakthroughs on trade or meaningful progress on ending the Gulf war, despite two days of lavish pageantry and conspicuous praise for his host, President Xi Jinping.
The visit — the first by a US president since Trump’s own trip in 2017 — had been billed as an opportunity to deliver tangible results ahead of crucial midterm elections, with Trump’s approval ratings under pressure. Instead, the summit produced scant concrete outcomes, and Chinese stocks slid as investors absorbed the underwhelming results.
On Iran, Xi offered no specific commitment. Just before the two leaders met for tea on Friday, China’s foreign ministry issued a blunt statement saying the conflict “should never have happened” and “has no reason to continue,” expressing support for a peace deal without pledging action. At their final meeting, Trump said the two leaders had discussed Iran and felt “very similar,” though Xi did not comment publicly.
“What’s notable is that there’s no Chinese commitment to do anything specific with regards to Iran,” said Patricia Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Trump had been expected to press Xi to use Beijing’s leverage with Tehran to advance a settlement. Analysts doubt Xi will push Iran hard or curtail military support, given Tehran’s value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the United States.
BOEING DEAL FALLS SHORT
On trade, US officials said both sides had agreed deals on farm goods and made progress on mechanisms to manage future commercial ties, with each expected to identify $30 billion of non-sensitive goods for exchange. But details were sparse and there was no sign of a breakthrough on sales of Nvidia’s advanced H200 AI chips to China, despite a last-minute addition of CEO Jensen Huang to the US delegation.
Trump told Fox News that China had agreed to order 200 Boeing jets — its first purchase of US-made commercial aircraft in nearly a decade — but the figure fell well short of the roughly 500 markets had anticipated. Boeing shares fell more than 4%.
Trump also left without resolution to a rare earths supply dispute that has strained ties since Beijing imposed export controls on the vital minerals in response to Trump’s April 2025 tariff barrage. Chinese state media did not mention the issue once during two days of summit coverage. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Bloomberg TV on Friday that it had not even been decided whether to extend a truce — struck last October — beyond its expiry later this year. Such an extension would be “the most basic benchmark” for the summit’s success, said Kim.
TAIWAN WARNING
Behind the otherwise cordial atmosphere, Xi delivered a stark warning that any mishandling of Taiwan could spiral into conflict. Taiwan, the democratically governed island Beijing claims as its own, lies just 80 kilometres off the Chinese coast and has long been a flashpoint in the relationship.
Trump declined to comment on the exchange, remaining unusually restrained throughout the visit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who accompanied Trump, told NBC News that US policy on Taiwan was “unchanged as of today.” Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked Washington for reaffirming its support.
Rubio said Trump had also raised the case of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, jailed for 20 years in February in the territory’s largest national security prosecution. Beijing describes the case as an internal matter.
The summit was steeped in ceremony, from goose-stepping soldiers to tours of Zhongnanhai, the former imperial garden complex housing the offices of China’s leadership, where the two leaders lunched on lobster balls and Kung Pao scallops. While Trump sought immediate commercial wins, Xi spoke of a long-term reset and a pact to maintain stable trade ties — a divergence that underscored their differing priorities.
“We must make it work and never mess it up,” Xi said at Thursday’s state banquet.
(Reuters)
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