Chinese president Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump on Friday hailed their Beijing summit as historic and landmark, as the American leader concluded his three-day visit to China with both sides projecting optimism, despite the absence of major breakthroughs on contentious geopolitical and economic issues.
President Trump departed Beijing on Friday afternoon after holding multiple rounds of talks with Mr Xi covering bilateral trade, the Iran war, energy security, Taiwan and broader strategic relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Before Mr Trump’s departure aboard Air Force One, the two leaders held a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, the heavily guarded leadership compound in Beijing where China’s top leaders reside. Chinese State media showed the two presidents walking through landscaped gardens, stopping occasionally to admire trees and flowers during informal discussions.
According to a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry, Mr Xi and Mr Trump held 'in-depth exchanges of views on major issues concerning the two countries and the world' and reached 'a series of new common understandings'.
The ministry says both leaders agreed on a new vision for a constructive China-US relationship based on strategic stability, aimed at guiding bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond.
The Chinese statement described Mr Trump’s visit as the first by a US president to China in nine years and the first face-to-face meeting between Mr Xi and Mr Trump since their Busan meeting last October.
Mr Xi had hosted a formal welcome ceremony, banquet and meetings with Mr Trump on Thursday, including a visit to Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.
Speaking before the final round of talks, president Trump says a lot of good had come out of the summit.
“We have settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve. We’ve made some fantastic trade deals for both countries,” Mr Trump says.
However, despite the positive rhetoric, no significant agreements were announced on key flashpoints, particularly the ongoing Iran conflict and Taiwan.
According to
a report by Al Jazeera, the summit failed to yield any visible agreement to end the Iran war, now in its 77th day.
The conflict began on 28 February 2026 following US and Israeli strikes on Iran amid disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme, triggering retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Iran across the region, including against US military assets and Israeli targets.
China reiterated its opposition to the war during the summit. In a statement cited by Al Jazeera, the Chinese foreign ministry says the conflict had caused 'severe losses' to Iran and other regional countries and stressed that 'dialogue and consultation' remained the only path toward resolving the crisis.
China also called for an early, comprehensive and lasting ceasefire and backed ongoing mediation efforts reportedly being facilitated by Pakistan.
The White House, meanwhile, says both leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to ensure the free flow of global energy supplies. The narrow waterway has been disrupted by major shipping restrictions imposed by Iran earlier this year.
The White House statement also says president Xi opposed 'militarisation' of the Strait and any attempt to impose transit tolls on vessels using the route.
However, the Chinese side did not publicly confirm several claims made in the US readout, including suggestions that China would purchase more American oil or pressure Iran more aggressively.
During the summit, president Trump says that both countries shared similar views on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the Strait open,” he said.
Yet China’s official statement stopped short of explicitly endorsing the US position that Iran should never possess nuclear weapons, instead calling for a negotiated settlement accommodating the concerns of all parties.
According to
a report by The Guardian, US secretary of state Marco Rubio says Washington’s policy on Taiwan had not changed and remained consistent with previous administrations.
Nevertheless, media reports suggested big differences between Beijing and Washington on Taiwan persisted throughout the summit, although neither side publicly detailed the discussions.
Trade and economic issues also yielded limited tangible outcomes.
According to
a report by Euronews, investors were left disappointed after president Trump failed to secure the large-scale business agreements he had repeatedly hinted at before the visit.
While China agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, the figure was far lower than the 500 jets Mr Trump had publicly suggested before arriving in Beijing. Boeing shares reportedly fell 4% on Wall Street following the announcement.
Euronews reported that apart from the Boeing deal, no major commercial breakthroughs emerged, despite expectations surrounding agricultural exports, semiconductor trade and technology cooperation.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer said both countries had agreed to continue working on preserving and potentially extending the fragile trade truce reached after last year’s tariff war.
According to Euronews, both sides also discussed mechanisms to manage future tariff disputes and export controls without allowing tensions to escalate immediately.
Analysts quoted by international media described the summit as more successful in stabilising relations than in producing substantive policy changes.
Helmut Brandstätter, a member of the European parliament, told Euronews that “you don't get the sense that much has been accomplished.”
Similarly, Al Jazeera reported that, despite repeated requests from Washington for China to pressure Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and broader regional tensions, Beijing appeared to maintain its existing position rather than aligning more closely with the US strategy.
Even so, the summit was widely viewed as an attempt by both powers to prevent further deterioration in bilateral ties amid growing geopolitical uncertainty and global economic pressures.
