Trump leaves Beijing with few wins but warm words for Xi

US President Donald Trump left China on Friday with no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war, despite spending two days heaping praise on his host, Xi Jinping.

Trump's visit to America's main strategic and economic rival, the first by a US president since his last trip in 2017, aimed for tangible results to bolster his sagging approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections.

The summit was filled with pageantry, from goose-stepping soldiers to tours of a secret garden, but behind closed doors, Xi issued a stark warning to Trump that any mishandling of China's top concern, Taiwan, could spiral into conflict.

Trump declined to comment on the matter, remaining unusually restrained throughout the visit, with his off-the-cuff remarks mainly focused on praising Xi's warmth and stature.

"It's been an incredible visit. I think a lot of good has come of it," Trump told Xi at their final meeting at the Zhongnanhai complex, a former imperial garden housing the offices of Chinese leaders, before their lunch of lobster balls and Kung Pao scallops.

While Trump searched for immediate business wins, such as a deal to sell Boeing jets that did not impress investors, Xi spoke of a long-term reset and a pact to maintain stable trade ties with Washington, underscoring their differing priorities.

Xi promoted a new term to describe the relationship as "constructive strategic stability" – a sharp departure from the framing of "strategic competition" used by former US President Joe Biden, which Beijing disliked.

Analysts said the new framing was a success for China because, for the first time, it was Beijing that defined the relationship on terms implying that any major rift or "unconstructive" behaviour would violate the spirit of the ties.

"Until now, China hasn't proposed an alternative - now they have. If the US side agrees, that is progress," said Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

No tangible help for Iran

Just before the leaders met for tea on Friday, China's foreign ministry issued a blunt statement outlining its frustration with the US-Israeli war against Iran.

"This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue," the ministry said, adding that China supported efforts to reach a peace deal in a war that had disrupted energy supplies and the global economy.

At Zhongnanhai, Trump said the leaders had discussed Iran and held "very similar" views, though Xi did not comment.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had urged China to use its leverage with Iran to secure a deal. But analysts doubt Xi will be willing to pressure Tehran heavily or end support for its military, given Iran's value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the US

A brief US summary of Thursday's talks highlighted what the White House called the leaders' shared desire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz off Iran, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war, and Xi's apparent interest in American oil purchases to reduce China's dependence on the Middle East.

"What's notable is that there's no Chinese commitment to do anything specific with regards to Iran," said Patricia Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Boeing shares slide on underwhelming deal

In another sign of the diminished scale of the summit, Trump's readout did not mention the broad structural reforms on which previous presidents had pressed Xi.

Unlike during his previous trip in 2017, Trump did not discuss "structural reforms", "global economic governance" or the "international trading system" with Xi, according to the readout.

"For the market, the summit can be strategically reassuring while underwhelming in substance," said Chim Lee, senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

US officials said they had agreed deals to sell farm goods and had made progress in setting up mechanisms to manage future trade, with both sides expected to identify $30 billion worth of non-sensitive goods.

There were scant details of the deals, however, and no signs of a breakthrough on selling Nvidia's (NVDA.O) advanced H200 AI chips to China, despite CEO Jensen Huang's dramatic last-minute addition to the trip.

Trump also left without an official resolution to the rare earths supply problem that has dogged ties since China imposed export controls on the vital minerals in response to Trump's tariff barrage in April 2025.

While the leaders struck a truce last October for Washington to lower tariffs in exchange for China keeping rare earths flowing, Beijing's controls have caused shortages for US chipmakers and aerospace companies.

It has not even been decided whether to extend the truce beyond its expiry later this year, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, accompanying Trump, told Bloomberg TV on Friday.

Such an extension would be "the most basic benchmark" for the success of the summit, said Brookings' Kim.

Xi's remarks to Trump that mishandling Taiwan, the democratically governed island Beijing claims, could lead to conflict delivered a sharp warning during a summit that otherwise appeared friendly and relaxed.

Taiwan, 50 miles (80 km) off China's coast, has long been a flashpoint in relations, with Beijing refusing to rule out the use of military force to gain control of the island and the US bound by law to provide it with the means of self-defence.

"US policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News. Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked the US for expressing its support.

Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Liz Lee, Antoni Slodkowski and Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by David Brunnstrom and John Geddie; Editing by Alistair Bell, Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez

Disclaimer: This opinion first appeared on Reuters and is published by special syndication arrangement