- Xi calls the visit a milestone.
- Trump touts Boeing deal.
- China calls for lasting ceasefire in Iran.
BEIJING: President Donald Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” with China’s Xi Jinping as the two met Friday in final talks of a superpower summit that the U.S. leader said also garnered a Chinese offer to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal agreements in sectors such as agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as contain differences between the two sides in a series of tense geostrategic areas, including the Middle East war.
Trump’s overtures to Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend,” have so far been met with more muted tones from the Chinese leader.
But the American leader said that “a lot of good things” have come from the visit.
“We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, fantastic for both countries,” he said after a walk with Xi among the rose bushes at Zhongnanhai Gardens, a central leadership complex next to Beijing’s Forbidden City.
“We’ve solved a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” he added, without giving details.
Xi said this was a “historic visit” and that the two sides had to date established “a new bilateral relationship, which is a relationship of constructive strategic stability.”
He promised to send seeds to Trump for the White House rose garden.
‘Help in 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 U.S. wish list.
On the issue of the war in Iran, the US president said Xi had effectively assured his counterpart that China was not preparing to militarily assist Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz.
“He said he wasn’t going to give military equipment…he said it firmly,” Trump said. Fox.
“He would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open and said ‘if I can be of any help, I would like to help,'” Trump added.
Asked whether the two leaders had discussed Iran, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday issued a statement calling for “a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.”
“Sea routes should be reopened as soon as possible in response to calls from the international community,” he added.
Taiwan policy ‘unchanged’
Thursday’s warm handshakes and pomp were somewhat overshadowed by a blunt warning from Xi about a much longer-standing geopolitical flashpoint: Taiwan.
Shortly after the talks began, Chinese state media reported that Xi had told Trump that missteps on the sensitive Taiwan issue could lead their two countries into “conflict.”
He fox news The interview did not refer to Taiwan, and Trump did not comment to reporters when asked about the matter on Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said CNBC the president would say more “in the coming days.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said NBC However, on Thursday he said that “U.S. policy on the Taiwan issue has not changed… since the meeting.”
Beijing had raised the issue, he said, but “we always made our position clear and moved on to other issues.”
Taipei responded on Friday by thanking Washington “for repeatedly expressing its support.”
Boeing, oil, soybeans
Trump on Friday did not detail the trade deals he said had been struck with China.
However, in the Fox In an interview, Trump said a major trade deal reached involved Xi agreeing to buy “200 big” Boeing planes.
Shares of the US aviation giant fell after Trump’s comments, in a sign the market expected stronger buying from China.
The US president also said Beijing had expressed interest in buying US oil and soybeans.
China, which is the largest foreign customer for Iranian oil, bought small amounts of American oil before Trump imposed tariffs last year.
It has sharply slowed purchases of American soybeans and instead turned to Brazil.
And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said CNBC that Trump and Xi were talking about establishing “guardrails” for the use of artificial intelligence.
Bessent said that “the world’s two AI superpowers are going to start talking,” although US controls on advanced technology exports to China remain a sore point in relations.
