President Donald Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” with China’s Xi Jinping, as the pair met on Friday at final talks of a superpower summit that according to the US leader has also reaped a Chinese offer to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas – not least the Middle East war.
Trump’s overtures to Xi, whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend”, have so far been met with more muted tones by the Chinese leader.
But the US leader said “a lot of good” has come out of the visit.
“We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said after a walk with Xi among the rosebushes in the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City.
“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” he added, without providing details.
Xi said it was a “milestone visit”, and that the two sides had to date established “a new bilateral relationship, which is a relationship of constructive strategic stability”.
He promised to send Trump seeds for the White House Rose Garden.
‘Help on Hormuz’
In an interview with Fox News after the first day of the summit wrapped, Trump said Xi had agreed to several US wishlist points.
On the topic of the war in Iran, the US president said Xi had effectively assured his counterpart that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz.
“He said he’s not going to give military equipment … he said that strongly,” Trump told Fox.
“He’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open, and said ‘if I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help,'” Trump added.
Asked whether the two leaders had discussed Iran, the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday released a statement calling for “a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire”.
“Shipping lanes should be reopened as soon as possible in response to the calls of the international community,” said the statement.
“There is no point in continuing this conflict which should not have happened in the first place,” it added.
Taiwan policy ‘unchanged’
The warm handshakes and pomp on Thursday were somewhat overshadowed by a blunt warning from Xi on a much longer standing geopolitical flashpoint, Taiwan.
Shortly after talks started, Chinese state media reported Xi had told Trump that missteps on the sensitive issue of Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict”.
