Trump leaves Beijing with modest deals as China issues sharp warning over Taiwan and Iran

UNITED States President Donald Trump departed Beijing on Friday claiming progress on trade and strategic cooperation following high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, although investors reacted coolly to the limited substance of the agreements announced.

The summit, Trump’s first visit to China since 2017, unfolded amid mounting global tensions and was dominated as much by symbolism as diplomacy, with elaborate state ceremonies, formal banquets and private receptions underscoring Beijing’s efforts to project stability in relations between the world’s two largest economies.

“It’s been an incredible visit. I think a lot of good has come of it,” Reuters reported Trump telling Xi during their final meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound before a farewell dinner featuring lobster balls and Kung Pao scallops.

Yet beneath the carefully choreographed warmth, Beijing delivered unusually direct warnings on issues it considers central to its national interests, particularly Taiwan and the escalating conflict involving Iran.

Shortly before Friday’s meeting, China’s foreign ministry issued a strongly worded statement criticising the war involving Iran and warning of its broader economic consequences.

“This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue,” the ministry said, adding that Beijing was supporting efforts to secure a peace agreement after the fighting disrupted global energy supplies and intensified economic uncertainty.

Trump later said both leaders had discussed Iran and held views that were “very similar”, although Xi offered no public comment on the matter.

Analysts said Beijing appeared unwilling to pressure Tehran aggressively despite Washington’s expectations that China might use its influence to help de-escalate tensions.

“There’s no Chinese commitment to do anything specific with regards to Iran,” said Patricia Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

A White House summary of Thursday’s discussions said both leaders supported reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route through which a substantial portion of the world’s oil and gas supply previously passed. The statement also suggested Xi expressed interest in increasing purchases of American oil to reduce China’s dependence on Middle Eastern energy sources.

Trade outcomes from the summit similarly fell short of market expectations.

American officials announced agreements covering agricultural exports and said both governments had advanced discussions on frameworks to manage future trade disputes. However, details remained limited and there was no breakthrough regarding exports of advanced H200 artificial intelligence chips manufactured by Nvidia.

Trump told Fox News that China had agreed to purchase 200 aircraft from Boeing, marking Beijing’s first major order of US-made commercial jets in nearly a decade. Nevertheless, the figure was significantly below the roughly 500 aircraft anticipated by investors, sending Boeing shares down more than four per cent.

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

Chinese equity markets also declined on Friday as investors assessed the absence of major economic breakthroughs from the high-profile meeting.

Diplomatically, the summit’s most significant achievement may have been preserving a fragile trade truce established during the leaders’ previous meeting in October, when Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese imports and Xi refrained from restricting exports of strategically important rare earth minerals.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it remained unclear whether the truce would be extended beyond its expiry later this year.

Such an extension would represent “the most basic benchmark” for the summit, Patricia Kim said.

Taiwan emerged as the clearest flashpoint during the discussions.

Xi reportedly warned Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could trigger conflict, delivering a stark reminder of Beijing’s red lines despite the otherwise cordial tone of the visit.

The self-governed island, which China claims as its territory, remains one of the most sensitive issues in Sino-American relations. Beijing has repeatedly refused to rule out military force to bring Taiwan under its control, while Washington is legally committed to supporting Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said American policy towards Taiwan remained unchanged.

“The Chinese always raise it... we always make clear our position and we move on,” Rubio told NBC News.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung later thanked the United States for reiterating its support for the island.

Rubio also confirmed that Trump had raised the imprisonment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai during talks with Xi. Lai, one of Beijing’s most prominent critics in Hong Kong, was jailed for 20 years earlier this year under the territory’s sweeping national security legislation.

China’s foreign ministry has consistently described Hong Kong affairs as an internal matter.

Despite limited progress on contentious economic and strategic disputes, both governments publicly sought to project stability in bilateral relations.

“We must make it work and never mess it up,” Xi said during Thursday’s state banquet, describing the relationship between China and the United States as the most important in the world. - May 15, 2026