- Xi considers the visit an important step.
- Trump touts Boeing deal.
- China calls for a lasting ceasefire in Iran.
BEIJING: President Donald Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” with China’s Xi Jinping, as the two met on Friday in final negotiations of a superpower summit that the US leader said also reaped a Chinese offer of help in opening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had arrived in Beijing aiming to strike deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as containing differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas, including the war in the Middle East.
Trump’s overtures toward Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and a “friend,” have so far been met with more muted tones by the Chinese leader.
But the US leader said “a lot of good” had come out of the visit.
“We have made fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said after a walk with Xi among the rose bushes at Zhongnanhai Gardens, a central ruling complex next to Beijing’s Forbidden City.
“We’ve solved a lot of different problems that others couldn’t have solved,” he added, without providing details.
Xi said it was a “historic visit” and that the two sides had so far established “a new bilateral relationship, which is a relationship of constructive strategic stability.”
He promised to send Trump seeds for the White House rose garden.
“Help on Hormuz”
In an interview with Fox News After the first day of the summit ended, Trump said Xi had agreed to several items on the US wish list.
On the subject of the Iran war, the US president said Xi had effectively assured his counterpart that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz.
“He said he wouldn’t donate military equipment…he said it forcefully,” Trump said. Fox.
“He would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open and said ‘if I can be of any help, I’d like to help,'” Trump added.
Asked whether the two leaders had discussed Iran, China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement Friday calling for “a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.”
“Shipping lanes must be reopened as soon as possible in response to calls from the international community,” the text adds.
Taiwan policy “unchanged”
Thursday’s warm handshakes and pomp were somewhat overshadowed by a blunt warning from Xi about a much older geopolitical flashpoint, Taiwan.
Shortly after negotiations began, Chinese state media reported that Xi told Trump that missteps on the sensitive issue of Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.”
THE Fox News The interview did not discuss Taiwan, and Trump made no comment to reporters interviewed about it on Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said CNBC the president will say more “in the coming days”.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said BNC Thursday, however, that “US policy on the Taiwan question is unchanged…as of the date of the meeting.”
Beijing has raised the topic, he said, but “we always make our position clear and move on to other topics.”
Taipei responded Friday, thanking Washington “for repeatedly expressing its support.”
Boeing, oil, soy
Trump did not specify Friday what trade deals he said had been reached with China.
However, in the Fox In the interview, Trump said one of the big trade deals reached involved Xi agreeing to buy “200 big” Boeing planes.
Shares of the US aviation giant fell after Trump’s comments, a sign that the market was expecting bigger purchases from China.
The US president also said Beijing had expressed interest in purchasing US oil and soybeans.
China, which is the largest foreign customer of Iranian oil, purchased small quantities of U.S. oil before Trump imposed tariffs last year.
It has significantly slowed down its purchases of American soybeans in favor of Brazil.
And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said CNBC that Trump and Xi were talking about putting in place “guardrails” for the use of artificial intelligence.
Bessent said “the two global AI superpowers will start talking,” although U.S. controls on advanced technology exports to China remain a sore point in relations.
