Trump says he does not need China’s help to end Iran war
Mr Trump arrived in Beijing earlier for a high-stakes summit with Mr Xi designed to ease the deep strains between the two powers.
Donald Trump said before landing in Beijing that he does not expect China to be crucial to ending the war in Iran or loosening Tehran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz, even as the conflict looms over his summit with President Xi Jinping.
The war is set to dominate discussions between Mr Trump and Mr Xi over the next two days, yet the US president played down Beijing’s importance in bringing it to a close. The fighting has already strangled traffic through a strategic passage that normally carries roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies.
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“I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise,” he told reporters in Washington before departing for China.
Mr Trump arrived in Beijing earlier for a high-stakes summit with Mr Xi designed to ease the deep strains between the two powers.
Before leaving the US, Mr Trump said he would urge Mr Xi to “open up” to American business, adding Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to a group of chief executives travelling with him during a stop in Alaska on the way.
As Mr Trump prepared for the ceremony-heavy visit, his top trade negotiator, Scott Bessent, concluded talks with Chinese officials in South Korea focused on preserving a fragile trade deal reached last year between the world’s two biggest economies.
Watch: Donald Trump receives welcome upon arrival at Beijing airport
The CEOs travelling with Mr Trump are largely from companies trying to settle commercial disputes with China, including Nvidia, which has struggled to secure regulatory approval to sell its high-powered H200 artificial intelligence chips there.
“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic,” he said in post on Truth Social, referring to the CEO delegation.
“I will make that my very first request.”
Mr Trump asked Mr Huang to join the visit at the last minute, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, and White House reporters saw him boarding Air Force One during a refuelling stop in Alaska.
Asked about Mr Trump’s post, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing was ready to “expand cooperation, manage differences and inject more stability and certainty into the turbulent world”.
Mr Trump will spend two days in the Chinese capital for meetings with MR Xi that will include a grand reception at The Great Hall of the People, a visit to the UNESCO heritage site Temple of Heaven and a state banquet.
Beyond trade, the agenda spans a range of sensitive issues, from the Iran war to US arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China.
Mr Trump is widely expected to press China to persuade Tehran to strike a deal with Washington to end the conflict, even though he has said he does not believe he will need Beijing’s help.
China has again voiced strong opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan, while the fate of a $14 billion package still awaiting Mr Trump’s approval remains uncertain.
The United States is legally required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
The welcoming party waits for Donald Trump to disembark from Air Force One
While Mr Trump mingled with Mr Huang and Elon Musk aboard Air Force One, Mr Bessent was holding his latest trade negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in a reception room at South Korea’s Incheon airport.
The discussions lasted about three hours and ended shortly before 8am Irish time, a US official said. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency called them “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges”, though neither side released a detailed summary.
Both governments are keen to preserve a truce agreed last October under which Mr Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Mr Xi stepped back from restricting global supplies of rare earths, which are essential for products ranging from electric vehicles to weapons.
Read more:What does the Trump-Xi summit mean for the rest of us?
They are also expected to discuss mechanisms to support mutual trade and investment, as well as dialogue on AI, while Washington aims to sell Boeing aircraft, agricultural goods and energy to China in an effort to narrow a trade deficit that has long irritated Mr Trump, US officials have said.
Beijing, for its part, wants the US to relax curbs on exports of chipmaking equipment and advanced semiconductors.
Mr Trump goes into the talks in a weaker position.
Courts have limited his ability to impose tariffs at will on exports from China and other countries.
The Iran war has also pushed up inflation at home and increased the risk that Mr Trump’s Republican Party could lose control of one or both chambers in November’s midterm elections.
Although China’s economy has stumbled, Mr Xi is not facing the same level of economic or political pressure.
“The Trump administration needs this meeting more than China does, as it needs to show to American voters that deals are signed, money is made,” said Liu Qian, founder and CEO of Wusawa Advisory, a Beijing-based geopolitical advisory firm.
