Newsman: China’s President Xi Jinping calls US-China relations the world’s “most important” as he hosts a state banquet in Beijing. At the dinner, US President Donald Trump praises earlier talks between the two nations as “extremely positive”
The White House earlier said trade, oil and Iran were among the topics discussed during a high-stakes meeting that lasted nearly two hours.Soon after talks began, Beijing released comments by Xi, repeating warnings of potential “conflict” with the US over Taiwan
The self-governed island claimed by Beijing is a major source of US-China tension, alongside tariffs, competition over tech and the Iran war
But Beijing also gave Trump a grand welcome – in Chinese diplomacy, that is not mere flattery, but carries real weight, writes our China correspondent
The delegation features several business leaders and billionaires, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nvidia head Jensen Huang.
Xi heralded the US-China relationship as the world’s “most important”, representing a collective population of 1.7 billion people. The Chinese president also said that “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” and “Make America great again” can go hand in hand.
In response, Trump called his visit a “great honour” and invited Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House in September.
The banquet followed a high-stakes meeting between Trump and Xi, which lasted for about two hours. They later toured the Temple of Heaven.
On the agenda of today’s talks was the future of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
The self-governed island is a major source of tension between Beijing and Washington, with China’s foreign ministry warning of “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy” if the situation isn’t handled “properly”.
Both sides pointed to a continuity of the trade truce struck last October, under which Washington paused steep tariff hikes while Beijing eased restrictions on rare earth exports.
The White House says both leaders agreed to establish a new “Board of Trade” – a mechanism that could ease future trade ties, though US officials have cautioned it is far from operational.
Beijing also signaled a willingness to buy American agricultural goods and energy products, but no specifics were announced.
Xi said recent trade talks in South Korea had made “progress,” while warning that Taiwan was “the most important issue in China-US relations” – one that could push the two countries towards “a highly perilous situation”.
The US called the meeting “highly productive” while Trump called it “the biggest summit ever” and promised “a fantastic future together.”
There were multiple roadblocks in Beijing today, but that didn’t stop people waiting and scrambling for a glimpse of Donald Trump’s motorcade as it travelled across the city.
Donald Trump is in Beijing to meet with China’s leader Xi Jinping, in his first visit to the country since 2017.
