China's Xi Jinping hailed positive trade negotiations with the United States at the start of a two-day summit with President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday, with discussions also set to cover the Iran war and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
With his approval ratings dented by his entanglement in the Middle East, Trump's hotly anticipated trip to China - the first by a U.S. president to America's main strategic rival since his last visit there in 2017 - has taken on added significance.
"You're a great leader, sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway," Trump told Xi after the Chinese leader treated him to a grand reception at Beijing's imposing Great Hall of the People, featuring an honour guard and throngs of children excitedly waving flowers and U.S. and China flags.
"There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever," Trump said. "It's an honour to be with you. It's an honour to be your friend and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before," he added.
Xi opened the summit by telling Trump that stable China–U.S. relationship benefits the entire world. "When we cooperate, both sides benefit; when we confront each other, both sides suffer."
He also said preparatory talks by economic and trade teams in South Korea on Wednesday had reached an "overall balanced and positive outcome", according to a readout by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
The latest round of negotiations aimed to maintain the trade truce struck last October and establish mechanisms to support future trade and investment, officials with knowledge of the matter said.
Joining Trump on the trip are a group of CEOs looking to resolve issues with China, including Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a late addition. Trump has said his first request to Xi will be to "open up" China to U.S. industry.
Musk, Huang and Apple's Tim Cook were present during the opening talks between the leaders, with Musk telling reporters they were "wonderful" as he left the Great Hall.
This week's leaders meetings will provide plenty of face time between Xi and Trump: after their initial talks, they will tour the UNESCO heritage site Temple of Heaven and attend a state banquet on Thursday, before taking tea and lunch together on Friday, according to the White House.
The power dynamics have changed since Trump's last visit to Beijing when China went out of its way to lavish Trump and buy billions in U.S. goods, said Ali Wyne, senior adviser for U.S.-China relations at International Crisis Group.
Back then "China was trying to persuade the United States of its growing status... This time around it's the United States, unprompted, of its own volition, that is acknowledging that status," Wyne said, pointing out Trump revived the term 'G2', referring to a superpower duo, when he last met Xi on the sidelines of an APEC meeting in South Korea in October.
Trump enters the talks with a weakened hand.
U.S. courts have hemmed in his ability to levy tariffs at will on exports from China and other countries. The Iran war has also boosted inflation at home and escalated the risk that Trump's Republican Party will lose control of one or both legislative branches in November's midterm elections.
Though the Chinese economy has faltered, Xi does not face comparable economic or political pressure.
Nevertheless, both sides are eager to maintain a trade truce struck last October in which Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of rare earths, vital in making items from electric cars to weapons.
They are also expected to discuss forums to support mutual trade and investment and dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI) issues.
Washington looks to sell Boeing airplanes, farm goods and energy to China to cut a trade deficit that has long irked Trump, while Beijing wants the U.S. to ease curbs on exports of chipmaking equipment and advanced semiconductors, officials involved in the planning said.
Aside from trade matters, Trump is expected to encourage China to convince Iran to make a deal with Washington to end the conflict. But analysts doubt that Xi will be willing to push Tehran hard or end support for its military, given Iran's value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News aboard Air Force One that it was in China's interest to help resolve the crisis as many of its ships are stuck in the Gulf and a slowdown in the global economy would hurt Chinese exporters.
For Xi, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China, will be a top priority.
China reiterated on Wednesday its strong opposition to the sales, with the status of a $14-billion package awaiting Trump's approval still unclear. The U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.
"Trump doesn't really have that many of the cards to play. But I don't think that Trump actually sees the situation that way," said Ronan Fu, an assistant research fellow at Taiwan's top government think tank Academia Sinica.
Xi has a reciprocal visit tentatively planned for later this year, which would be his first visit to the United States since Trump re-took office in 2025.
The U.S. military said it completed its latest wave of strikes on Iran, a two-hour operation that hit dozens of targets. Washington described the stri...
Nauru has ended its diplomatic relations with Georgia's occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia's Foreign Ministry has confirmed....
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 30th of July, covering the latest developments....
French DJ and electropop musician Kavinsky, whose atmospheric sound shaped a generation of electronic music fans, has died at the age of 50, French authorities said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia said its overnight strikes on Iran-backed group targets in Iraq were carried out in self-defence and warned it would take further military action if the groups launched new attacks against the kingdom.
Yemen warned the Houthis were seeking to replicate Iran's Strait of Hormuz strategy in the Red Sea, as U.S. President Donald Trump said there was a "good chance" of a deal with Tehran but warned strikes could resume if talks failed.
Moscow should stop linking Russia-Armenia relations to Azerbaijan, Baku's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada has said, after Russia again raised the Collective Security Treaty Organisation's role during the former Garabagh conflict.
A fire involving two gas vessels at Egypt's Damietta port has prompted conflicting reports over whether the incident was caused by a drone strike or an onboard technical fault. Egyptian authorities said there were no casualties.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 30th of July, covering the latest developments.
Russian air strikes killed at least 13 in Ukraine on Thursday, including one in Kyiv, in attacks extending as far as the western city of Lviv, forcing neighbouring Poland to scramble fighter jets to secure its airspace.
Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and five other high-profile claimants could face a legal bill of up to $46 million after losing their privacy lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, London's High Court heard on Wednesday.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has given the organisation's 211 member associations until 19 September to approve a private investment proposal that could significantly increase funding for national football federations.
For more than two decades, Iran-backed armed groups have become some of the most powerful players in Iraq.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment