Trade, stability dominate Xi-Trump talks but summit statements reveal differing priorities

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BEIJING – Trade and stability in the relationship between the world’s two biggest powers emerged as key issues discussed during Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump’s highly watched summit on May 14.

But while the two leaders displayed warmth at their meeting, a closer reading of the two sides’ summit statements revealed differing priorities and sensitivities beneath that camaraderie.

Mr Xi said he and Mr Trump agreed to forge a bilateral relationship marked by “constructive strategic stability”, following a more than two-hour-long meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

Mr Xi said the “new positioning” would provide strategic guidance for relations over the next three years and beyond, and that it should be centred on cooperation, healthy stability with competition within proper limits, constant stability with manageable differences, and lasting stability with expectable peace, according to the Chinese readout published by the Xinhua state news agency.

The “new positioning” was, however, not mentioned in the White House readout of the meeting, which characterised the meeting as “good” and focused more on concrete deliverables.

The White House said Mr Trump and Mr Xi discussed expanding market access to China for American businesses, increasing Chinese investments in American industries and increasing Chinese purchases of American agricultural products.

“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy,” the White House said, in reference to the Iran war and the blockades of the strait by the US and Iran that have disrupted oil and gas supplies from the Persian Gulf states.

It added that Mr Xi has expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future. About 45 per cent to 50 per cent of China’s crude oil imports transit the strait.

What was conspicuously missing in the White House readout of the meeting was the Taiwan issue, which Mr Xi has said is the “most important issue” in Sino-US relations.

China views self-governing Taiwan as its territory, to be reunited with the mainland by force, if necessary. The US is obligated by its Taiwan Relations Act to enable Taiwan to defend itself against attacks, and the Trump administration in late 2025 announced the US’ largest-ever weapons package for the island.

Mr Xi said that Sino-US relations will enjoy overall stability if the Taiwan issue is handled properly. Otherwise, the two countries will clash or even be in conflict, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy, according to the Chinese readout.

The White House, on the issue of Iran, cast Mr Xi as broadly aligned with Washington’s position, such as opposing Iranian tolls in the Strait of Hormuz and agreeing that Iran must never obtain nuclear weapons.

The Chinese readout, on the other hand, said the two leaders “exchanged views over major international and regional issues”, including the situations in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and issues regarding the Korean peninsula, without elaborating.

Despite the differing perspectives, both leaders struck positive tones when describing the two countries’ relations.

In their opening remarks during the summit, which were open to the press, Mr Xi called for the US and China to “be partners, not rivals”, and Mr Trump hailed the “fantastic relationship” between the two leaders.

Mr Trump also invited Mr Xi and his wife to the White House on Sept 24, during his toast speech at the state banquet in the evening.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi had previously notably described direct “leaders’ diplomacy” between Mr Xi and Mr Trump as the “guiding star” of bilateral ties.

At their summit at the Great Hall of the People, Mr Xi, who spoke first, posed the question of whether China and the US can overcome the Thucydides Trap – the idea that a rising power and an established hegemony are destined for war – and if the two countries can address global challenges and inject more stability into the world.

“I always believe that our two countries have more common interests than differences,” said Mr Xi, who was flanked by his chief of staff and Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang.

“A stable relationship between China and the US is good for the world. Both sides stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. We should be partners, not rivals,” he said.

Mr Xi added that he expects 2026 to be a “historic, landmark year” that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations.

Mr Trump said in his opening remarks that he and Mr Xi have “always gotten along” and that it is “an honour to be your friend”.

“When there were difficulties, we worked it out. I would call you, and you would call me. People don’t know. Whenever we had a problem, we worked it out very quickly,” said Mr Trump, who was flanked by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to China David Perdue.

“Such respect for China, the job you’ve done. You’re a great leader, I say it to everybody. You are a great leader. Sometimes people do not like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true,” he said.

Mr Trump also pointed out that he had travelled to China with a “great delegation” of top executives and businessmen who were there to “pay respects” to Mr Xi and China.

On May 14, Beijing granted permission for hundreds of American slaughterhouses to resume beef shipments to China, as a goodwill gesture for Mr Trump’s visit. In March 2025, Beijing had allowed these licences to expire, in what many took as a signal of displeasure with Mr Trump’s initial tariffs.

The two leaders, who were all smiles and appeared to be at ease, had earlier stopped at the steps in front of the Great Hall of the People to take in the welcome ceremony, where several hundred Chinese schoolchildren waved flags and flowers enthusiastically.

After their morning meeting, the two leaders visited the Temple of Heaven, where Mr Xi took Mr Trump on a tour of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, where Chinese rulers in ancient times prayed for national prosperity, social harmony and favourable weather for good harvests.

At the Temple of Heaven, Mr Trump said “wait” when asked by a reporter how the talks went, then added: “China’s beautiful.”

Dr Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said the overall atmosphere for the summit so far is “positive yet restrained” with a tone of cautiousness.

“The core objective was not to ‘reset relations’ but to establish a more stable and predictable frame­work for China-US relations against the backdrop of long-term competition,” said Dr Sun.

Mr Trump landed in Beijing on the evening of May 13 and was received by Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng. He is slated to have tea and lunch with Mr Xi before leaving on May 15.

The visit marks Mr Trump’s second visit to China, following his first in 2017 during his previous presidential term. This trip was originally scheduled for the end of March, but Mr Trump postponed it because of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi last met in October 2025 in South Korea, where they agreed to pause a bruising trade war for a year. At the time, Beijing had threatened to impose sweeping new restrictions on rare earth exports in response to the sky-high US tariffs on Chinese goods.

A group of top executives, including US chipmaker Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook and Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, have joined Mr Trump on this trip.

Some China watchers are holding out hope for more concrete deliverables on trade on May 15, the final day of Mr Trump’s visit.

But even if these do not materialise, the summit has already amplified the perception of China as a “confident peer power rather than a country under pressure”, said Mr Han Shen Lin, China managing director for The Asia Group consultancy.

“The challenge is that the positive reception Trump received in China will be very difficult to reciprocate when Xi next goes to the US, if Xi is humiliated by Congress, protesters and the like,” said Mr Lin.

Correction note: An earlier version of the story stated that Mr Xi had said that bilateral ties will enjoy overall stability if handled properly. He was referring to the handling of the Taiwan issue. This has been edited for clarity.