Trump, Xi meet in Beijing to discuss trade and Iran

Donald Trump opened high-stakes talks in Beijing by praising Xi Jinping as both “a great leader” and a friend, as the two presidents began two days of meetings expected to test a delicate trade truce and tackle flashpoints including the Iran war and US arms sales to Taiwan.

With Mr Trump’s approval ratings weakened by conflict in the Middle East, his expected visit to China has taken on greater political and diplomatic weight. The trip is the first by a sitting US president to visit America’s main strategic rival since Mr Trump’s previous stop there in 2017.

A contingent of prominent business leaders joined the president, underscoring the economic stakes of the visit. Among them are Elon Musk and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, who was added late to the delegation.

Mr Trump has said he will press one message first in talks with Mr Xi: that China should “open up” to US industry.

Chinese soldiers marched in goose-step to revolutionary songs as the visiting US president arrived, while schoolchildren waving Chinese and American flags lined the route. As the pair walked together, Mr Trump at times reached over to pat Mr Xi on the back.

The US delegation includes cabinet members and a group of CEOs such as Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook

“You’re a great leader, sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway,” Mr Trump told Mr Xi as the two sat opposite one another, surrounded by senior officials from both sides.

He added: “There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever … 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.”

Mr Xi responded by urging a different frame for ties between the two powers, saying they should be “partners and not rivals”.

He said: “A stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world.

“Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both. We should be partners and not rivals.”

Mr Xi also said he was “happy” to welcome Mr Trump at a moment when, in his words, “the world has arrived at a new crossroads”.

The balance between the two leaders has changed markedly since Mr Trump’s last Beijing visit, when China made a point of showering him with ceremony and purchasing billions of dollars in US goods, according to Ali Wyne, senior adviser for US-China relations at International Crisis Group.

At that time, “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,” Mr Wyne said. He noted that Mr Trump revived the term ‘G2’ — shorthand for a superpower pairing — when he last met Mr Xi on the sidelines of an APEC summit in South Korea in October.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing

This week’s schedule gives the two men extensive time together. After formal talks at the Great Hall of the People, they are due to tour the ‌UNESCO heritage site Temple of Heaven and attend a state banquet. The White House said they will also share tea and lunch tomorrow.

Mr Trump arrives at the table in a weaker position than before.

US courts have curtailed his ability to impose tariffs at will on goods from China and other countries.

The Iran war has also pushed up inflation at ⁠home and raised the prospect that Mr Trump’s Republican Party could lose one or both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.

Although China’s economy has stumbled, Mr Xi is not contending with the same level of political or economic strain.

Even so, both governments want to preserve the trade truce reached last October, under which Mr Trump paused triple-digit tariffs on Chinese imports and Mr Xi stepped back from restricting global rare earths supplies — materials essential to products ranging from electric vehicles ‌to weapons systems.

The agenda is also expected to include mechanisms to support trade and investment, as well as discussions on AI.

Washington wants to increase sales of Boeing aircraft, agricultural products and energy to China in an effort to narrow a trade deficit that has long frustrated Mr Trump. Beijing, for its part, is seeking looser US restrictions on exports of chipmaking equipment and advanced semiconductors, according to officials involved in preparations for the summit.

Marco Rubio told Fox News it was in China’s interest to help resolve the crisis in the Middle East

Beyond trade, Mr Trump is expected to press China to use its influence with Tehran and encourage Iran to reach a deal with Washington to bring the conflict to an end.

Analysts, however, question whether Mr Xi will be prepared to lean heavily on Iran or withdraw ⁠support for its military, given Tehran’s value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to Fox News aboard Air Force One, said China had a clear interest in helping defuse the crisis because many of ⁠its ships are stranded in the Gulf and a weaker global economy would hit Chinese exporters.

For Mr Xi, one of the most sensitive items on the agenda will be US arms sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its own.

China yesterday renewed its strong opposition to the proposed sales, while the fate of a $14-billion (€11 billion) package still awaiting Mr Trump’s approval remained uncertain.

Under US law, Washington must provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, even though the two sides do not have formal diplomatic relations.

“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 Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s leading government think tank.

“I don’t think that Trump is going to just let Beijing basically ask for whatever they want and then the US will make any concession that Beijing requests,” he added.

Mr Xi is tentatively expected to make a return visit later this year, a trip that would mark his first visit to the United States since Mr Trump returned to office in 2025.