BEIJING, May 15 — U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping began the second day of their summit talks in Beijing on Friday amid expectations that the world’s two largest economies will clinch business deals, including massive Chinese purchases of American soybeans and other farm products.
Having discussed a range of topics, including trade, Taiwan’s future and the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, during more than two hours of talks on the first day, Trump and Xi are expected to take up issues such as extending their fragile one-year truce in trade conflicts reached last October.
The Chinese leader hosted Trump at Zhongnanhai, the compound in Beijing for the ruling Communist Party’s leadership, with the two continuing their discussions over tea and during a working lunch.
Xi stressed Thursday that bilateral economic ties are “mutually beneficial and a win-win in nature,” hailing the “generally balanced and positive outcomes” produced by the countries’ negotiators during their last-minute trade talks in South Korea before the summit, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with U.S. business news channel CNBC that the two countries will talk about “a board of investment that will be responsible for investment in non-sensitive areas.”
Bessent also said the United States and China will set up a protocol for moving forward with artificial intelligence safely. The two countries are rivals in the development of AI technology.
Trump said in an interview with Fox News that Xi agreed to order 200 Boeing aircraft.
On the Iran war, Trump said in the interview that Xi had offered help to open the Strait of Hormuz and promised not to provide military equipment to Tehran.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that it is “important to reopen the shipping lanes as soon as possible to respond to the call of the international community and jointly keep the global supply chains stable and unimpeded.”
Beijing will “work with the international community to provide stronger support for peace talks and play a constructive role in achieving lasting peace in the Middle East,” it added.
In the interview, Trump also called the United States and China “the G2,” saying, “It’s the two great countries…I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history.”
Trump is accompanied by top executives from major American companies including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Apple’s Tim Cook, who joined a portion of the summit, according to the White House.
Also on Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with U.S. business representatives and pledged Beijing’s commitment to a “high-standard opening-up,” with hopes for more engagement by American companies in the Chinese market, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Before Trump and Xi agreed on the one-year pause in the trade war during their previous summit last October in South Korea, the two countries had seen their respective tariffs temporarily soar to triple-digit rates.
The accord struck at the time also included delaying China’s new export controls on rare earth minerals that are essential for manufacturing high-tech products, including electric vehicles, semiconductors and cutting-edge weapons.
