US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday. The US-China summit opened with trade, Iran and Taiwan on the agenda.
Xi greeted Trump just after 10 a.m. local time, 7 a.m. PKT, outside the ceremonial venue in Beijing, the capital of China in East Asia, before the leaders began formal talks.
The White House schedule included talks at the Great Hall of the People. There was also a Thursday state banquet. In addition, a second meeting with tea and lunch was set for Friday, according to reporting on the visit.
Trump arrived with US executives, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Washington sought broader access for American industry and possible Chinese purchases of US aircraft, farm goods and energy.
The talks came after a fragile trade truce. In this truce, Trump suspended tariffs on Chinese goods at levels of 25% or higher. Meanwhile, Xi stepped back from restrictions on rare-earth supplies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News aboard Air Force One that China had an interest in easing the Iran crisis. He said this is because a slowdown in global trade would hurt Chinese exporters.
Taiwan’s arms sales were also expected to feature prominently. China has opposed a pending $14 billion US arms package. Meanwhile, Washington is legally bound to help Taiwan maintain its self-defence capacity.
Xi has a reciprocal visit to the United States. The capital of North America is Washington. This meeting is tentatively planned for later this year.
