Beijing, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday began what Trump called “the largest summit ever” to discuss a wide range of issues, including the war with Iran and bilateral trade frictions.
Trump, who arrived in Beijing last night to a warm welcome, told Xi Jinping in their first meeting on Thursday that he looked forward to a “big discussion” with Xi.
“Some say this could be the largest summit ever,” Trump said in his opening remarks as he met with Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
“When things get hard, we solve them,” Trump said.
“We will have a great future together,” said the US president, who is on a three-day state visit to China.
Trump has repeatedly praised Xi Jinping as a great leader, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The first meeting between the leaders of the two countries lasted more than two hours.
Trump will be accompanied on his visit to China by some of America’s top business leaders, such as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk and BlackRock’s Larry Fink.
“I will be asking the great leader President Xi to ‘open up’ China and allow these talented people to work their magic and help the People’s Republic of China move to the next level,” Trump posted on social media.
According to the BBC, Trump said this would be his “first request” when he meets with Chinese leaders.
He said: “It is an honor to be your friend. Sino-US relations will be better than ever.”
Earlier, Xi Jinping welcomed Trump with a guard of honor and said that he expected 2026 to be a “historic and landmark year”, opening a new chapter in Sino-US relations.
In his opening speech, Xi Jinping said that China and the United States have more common interests than differences.
Xi Jinping pointed out that China and the United States should be partners, not competitors. The two countries should help each other, prosper together, and find the right way for major countries to get along with each other.
Regarding the Sino-US trade friction, he said, “There are no winners in trade wars.”
President Trump’s visit comes amid growing economic and geopolitical uncertainty caused by conflicts in West Asia and subsequent global energy shocks, particularly in Asia.
Beyond West Asia, leaders of the world’s two largest economies are expected to focus on trade and tariffs, artificial intelligence and technology, Taiwan and U.S. arms sales to Taipei, and rare earth supply chains.
Trump’s visit to Beijing comes after trade friction flared up again after the Trump administration imposed steep tariffs on several Chinese goods and deepened tensions between the two countries over export controls, advanced technology and China’s dominance of the rare earths supply chain.
Ahead of Trump’s arrival, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Scott Bessent completed a final round of trade talks in South Korea, details of which were unclear.
Trump was greeted at the airport by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, a rare honor that went against normal diplomatic protocol.
Trump’s son Eric and daughter-in-law Laura and Musk stepped off Air Force One with Trump.
The two countries also plan to set up a trade committee with China to resolve differences between the two countries.
However, global focus on the summit will be on any possible outcome that could end the US-Israeli war against Iran and end the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of the world’s total energy supply passes through this narrow waterway of the Gulf.
Trump’s visit comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beijing for the first time since the war and held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
After talks with Araghchi, Wang called on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, even as Iran appreciated Tehran’s pledge not to develop nuclear weapons, Trump’s top demand for ending the war.
Commenting on the Wang-Arachi talks, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “I want the Chinese to tell him what he needs to know. This is what you are doing in the Strait, and it is causing you to be isolated globally. You are the bad guys in this.”
China’s concerns about a war with Iran have grown, especially after Trump blocked Iranian ports and restricted Iranian oil exports to China.
China imports 10-15% of its crude oil from Iran.
The state media Global Times said in an editorial commenting on Trump’s visit to China that Xi Jinping’s multiple phone calls and meetings with Trump helped correct the development direction of bilateral relations and avoid hidden dangers at critical moments.
For China-US relations to truly and stably improve in the future, the most fundamental thing is to fully and faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
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