Xi received unprecedented welcome, from airport greeting to state dinner; Chinese state media actively relayed Xi's positions on Taiwan, Iran and AI; Trump hailed 'tremendous progress' without detailing outcomes; full results expected Monday

US President Donald Trump (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave the National Archives Museum in Washington on Friday (local time). [AFP]
US President Donald Trump (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave the National Archives Museum in Washington on Friday (local time). [AFP]

The summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up Friday (local time) as Xi concluded his two-night, three-day state visit to the United States.

The leaders of the world's two largest economies and military powers met for the first time in roughly four months since their Beijing summit in May, but left without reaching a sweeping agreement to resolve the accumulated tensions between the two countries, pledging instead to meet again.

Xi arrived in the United States on Wednesday as a state guest — his first such visit in 11 years. Trump traveled personally to Joint Base Andrews near Washington to receive Xi and his wife, an unusually warm gesture. The White House underscored the significance of the first state visit in more than a decade by organizing a large official welcoming ceremony and a state dinner.

On Thursday, the White House hosted a formal welcoming ceremony, a summit and a state dinner. On the final day Friday, the two leaders held a tea meeting at the White House before visiting the National Archives, bringing the three-day official schedule to a close.

The two leaders shook hands and parted ways just after noon Friday outside the National Archives. Trump returned immediately to the White House, while Xi departed for Joint Base Andrews without any further public engagements and flew home.

Throughout the three days, Trump's lavish hospitality and elaborate protocol stood out. The White House welcoming ceremony alone deployed 479 US military personnel and featured a flyover by B-2 bombers and F-22 fighter jets.

Yet as the schedule concluded, neither government had released an official account of the summit's outcomes.

Of the two sides, China was more forthcoming in conveying results through the media.

According to reports from China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television, the core summit on Thursday covered a wide range of issues shaping the global economy and security — including bilateral economic and trade relations, geopolitical flashpoints such as the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, Iran and Ukraine, and AI safety.

On trade friction, Xi said "the economic and trade teams of both sides have reached new joint agreements," Chinese media reported. On Taiwan, Xi said the United States "should uphold the correct position of opposing 'Taiwan independence' and handle the Taiwan question prudently."

On the Iran war, Xi urged the United States and Iran to resolve the issue through negotiations. On AI, he conveyed the message that "competition exists, but cooperation is also possible — both sides should leverage their respective strengths rather than guarding against each other."

Trump did not specify how he responded to any of these issues.

In a social media post Friday, Trump wrote that his meeting with Xi "was very productive for both the United States and China" and that "tremendous things will happen." Speaking publicly at the White House tea meeting, he said, "We made tremendous progress — great progress that is very positive for both countries."

At the National Archives, Trump told reporters it was "a really great meeting — great for the farmers, great for everybody." He said the Iran issue had come up in his talks with Xi and said only that the Strait of Hormuz situation was something "we're going to do very well on."

In short, Trump offered only diplomatic pleasantries about how well the talks had gone, with no detailed explanation of concrete outcomes.

On Iran, however, US Ambassador to China David Perdue — who attended the summit — told CNBC in an interview Friday that Trump had made it "very clear" to Xi that Chinese support for Iran was "completely unacceptable."

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said Wednesday that the two countries had agreed to extend their trade war truce — set to expire Nov. 10 — by two months to Jan. 10 next year, and that China was expected to agree to a proposed "hotline" for mutual notification in the event of an AI-related incident. Even so, it remains unclear whether the two leaders formally finalized either matter at the summit.

Regarding the broader results, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a broadcast interview Friday morning that "there was progress" and previewed that "much more detail on what we've accomplished in negotiations with China over the past few weeks" would be announced Monday.

Given Greer's preview and the diplomatic convention by which both parties coordinate the timing of summit announcements, the full results of the meeting are expected to be made public Monday.

The same pattern played out after the May summit: the White House released its fact sheet on May 17, two days after Trump wrapped up his China visit on May 15.

Against this backdrop, many analysts expect the tangible deliverables from this summit to amount to a two-month extension of the trade truce and an expansion of Chinese purchases of US agricultural products.

Ultimately, with the two powers locked in an intense rivalry for global dominance and finding it difficult to narrow their differences across a broad range of core issues, the two leaders appear to have focused the summit on maintaining a stable relationship — using their personal rapport to keep conflicts below the surface rather than letting them spill into the open.

The two leaders are set to meet twice more this year. At Friday's tea meeting, Xi invited Trump and his wife to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held next month in Shenzhen, China.

Shortly after Xi's departure, Trump posted on social media that he would see Xi again not only at the APEC summit but also at the Group of 20 summit to be held in Florida in December.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com