US President Donald Trump left Beijing on Friday after talks, visiting a temple and having tea with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, their talks ranging from trade to the Middle East.
Here are five takeaways from the two-day superpower summit:
Were agreements closed?
Trump said he made “fantastic trade deals” with Xi, who referred to having reached a “consensus.”
But there have been no official announcements or details from either party.
Trump sought large purchases by China of American aircraft and agricultural products, a key issue for his domestic base.
After leaving Beijing, the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One that China would “buy billions of dollars of soybeans.”
He added that China had agreed to buy “more than 200 planes from Boeing with a promise of 750 planes… if they do a good job on the 200, which I'm sure they will.”
Trump said fox news After the first day of the summit, Xi had also agreed to buy more American oil.
China's Foreign Ministry neither confirmed nor denied any purchase deal when asked at a news conference shortly after the American leader's departure.
Meanwhile, a surprising omission from the agenda was tariffs: Leaders were expected to discuss extending a trade truce reached last October.
Trump said the issue had not arisen.
Opening of Hormuz
China has described the United States' ongoing war against Iran as “illegal” and has repeatedly called for its end.
It has quietly acted as a mediator: Beijing hosted Iran's foreign minister a week before Trump's visit and fielded calls from several Gulf nations.
Trump said that during talks on Thursday, Xi agreed to help reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely blocked by Iran since the United States and Israel began attacking the country on February 28.
“Both 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 blockade of the strait and has long advocated safe transit through it.
More than half of the crude oil imported by sea to China comes from the Middle East, according to maritime analysis firm Kpler.
However, China's Foreign Ministry did not comment when asked whether Xi had told Trump he would help reopen the waterway.
Taiwan? No comments
In unusually blunt comments, Xi warned Trump in their first bilateral meeting that mishandling Taiwan could lead their two countries into “conflict,” framing it as the most important issue endangering the U.S.-China relationship.
Analysts had suggested before the summit that Beijing saw an opportunity to seek a change in the established US position on the island.
Trump said Xi asked whether Washington would defend Taiwan in the event of a conflict and that he responded: “I'm not talking about that.”
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said NBC on Thursday that “U.S. policy on the Taiwan question has not changed.”
'Milestone'
Trump praised Xi throughout the trip, addressing the Chinese leader as a “friend” and “great leader” and inviting him to the United States in September.
Xi refrained from matching Trump's public affection, although in a sign of goodwill he said he would send some Chinese rose seeds to the White House while Trump admired the flora at the exclusive Zhongnanhai leadership complex.
The Chinese president called the visit a “milestone,” praising a new official line of “constructive strategic stability” to define the U.S.-China relationship over the next three years.
“This is not simply a procedural consensus but an important strategic repositioning. It defines how the two great powers should coexist… establishing clear barriers to manage friction while expanding shared interests,” said Dong Wang, a professor at Peking University.
“Even as differences persist over advanced technology and geopolitics, both sides now operate under this new strategic consensus to avoid misjudgments and calculations,” he said.
The term “can be seen as progress compared to the 'strategic competition' of the (Trump's predecessor Joe) Biden era,” said George Chen of The Asia Group.
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 the fall.
