US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed their talks as “historic” and “landmark” on Friday (local time) as the US leader ended his three-day high-level visit, but no agreements were announced on any contentious issues.
The two leaders, who held several rounds of talks over the past three days and addressed a range of global issues including the US-Iran war and bilateral trade frictions, concluded their talks on Friday with a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, a high-security complex in Beijing where top officials reside, PTI reported.
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Trump’s statements about his trip to China
The US president described his trip to China as “very successful and memorable”. He added: “It is attracting the world’s attention. The two sides have agreed on many things, made many agreements and solved many problems.”
According to China’s official reading, Trump noted: “This is good for both countries and the world. President Xi is an old friend of mine, and I respect you very much, and we have developed a good relationship. US-China relations are very important and will definitely get better and better. I would like to continue this kind of frank and deep discussion with President Xi. I am very much looking forward to President Xi welcoming us to Washington.”
Chinese leader welcomes Trump’s visit
After Trump’s remarks, Xi Jinping noted that the two sides have set a “new vision” of building a constructive relationship between the two countries.
Without disclosing details, Xi Jinping said: “We have agreed on a new vision for a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability and reached an important common understanding on maintaining stable economic and trade ties, expanding practical cooperation in various fields, properly solving mutual problems, and improving communication and coordination on international and regional issues.”
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The Chinese leader drew a parallel between their countries’ visions for each other, noting that Trump wants to make America great again, while he is determined to lead the Chinese people to a major rejuvenation of the country.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional issues, Xi said.
Taiwan issue, reopening of Strait of Hormuz discussed
The two leaders held talks on Thursday, during which the Chinese leader warned Trump against mishandling the Taiwan issue, adding that it could spark “clashes and even conflicts” between the two countries, Chinese state media reported.
Among the topics discussed, the two leaders also agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open, which was closed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after the US and Israel waged war against Tehran in late February. The US president added on Thursday that Xi Jinping had offered to help preserve the strait, which before the war transported roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas reserves.
Read also | Trump said Xi had promised not to ship military equipment to Iran
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said: “President Xi would like to see a deal made. He would like to see a deal made. And he offered, he said, ‘If I can be of any help, I’d like to help.'” He added: “Look, whoever buys that much oil obviously has some relationship, if he has any relationship with him, but he said, however I can help, I’d love to help him.” He would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open.”
In addition, the US president also stated that his Chinese counterpart has pledged not to send military equipment to Iran. The remarks came after US intelligence reports in the past few months suggested Beijing was preparing to help Tehran with missiles and military equipment.
US-China ties
It is the first visit of an American president to China in nine years. Trump himself was the last US president to visit China in 2017. The meeting in Beijing marked the second meeting between the two leaders in less than a year. Trump met Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea for the first time since returning to the White House for a second term. The closed-door summit, held in October last year, was held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The two leaders discussed trade frictions and tariff cuts imposed by Trump, first in April and then in July.
Trump also invited Xi Jinping along with his wife to visit the US on September 24.
