US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping wrapped up the first day of their two-day summit in Washington DC. HT takes a look at what was achieved, what wasn’t and how countries like India will be assessing the progress in talks between the two superpowers.
Track updates on the Trump-Xi meeting live here
How the summit played out
The day began with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcoming President Xi and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan to the White House. The Chinese leader was welcomed by hundreds of US military personnel, including a stealth bomber and fighter jet flyover.
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The two leaders then spoke to the press, largely focusing on the need for stability and cooperation in the US-China relationship. Trump and Xi then met for several hours for a bilateral meeting in the afternoon, which was followed by a state dinner attended by some of the most high-powered officials and politicians in the United States and China.
Some of America’s most well-known tech CEOs including Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and Sam Altman of Open AI.
{{/usCountry}}Some of America’s most well-known tech CEOs including Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and Sam Altman of Open AI.
{{/usCountry}}What was achieved?
A key announcement came in on the day before the Trump-Xi summit when US treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced that a trade truce between Beijing and Washington that was set to expire in November will be extended by two months till January.
This will ensure tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States remain largely stable even as America receives a steady supply of critical minerals and rare earths.
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A statement released by China’s foreign ministry argued that Washington and Beijing should maintain a dialogue on AI. After years of US-China tensions, the meeting also generally kept up a tone of general civility while stressing the need for stability in relations between the two superpowers. President Xi called for increasing the number of areas for “win-win cooperation” between the two countries and ensuring “competition is kept within proper limits”.
President Trump echoed that rhetoric, focusing his efforts on a more balanced trade relationship and pushing discussions on AI and technology. On the soft power side, Xi announced China would loan two pandas to the Atlanta Zoo in keeping with its practice of “panda diplomacy” and proposed bringing 100,000 American students to China.
Reaction to the summit
Divided, to say the least. America’s opposition Democratic party criticised the summit for achieving little of substance.
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“At a time when Americans are struggling with rising costs of gas, electricity and groceries, President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi. Rather than confronting China’s unfair trade practices, technology theft, complicity in attacks against our troops or economic and military aggression against our allies, President Trump opted for pageantry over purpose—trading tough diplomacy for a ballroom tour and a lavish dinner with his billionaire friends,” said 19 US Senators in a joint statement on Thursday.
Analysts largely agreed that the summit had largely focused on pomp and ceremony, leaving the US-China relationship no better and no worse off than before. A mere two-month extension of the bilateral trade truce was seen by many as a modest achievement.
How countries like India see the summit
Thus far during this summit, Trump has avoided any explicit references of a G2 with China - which refers to the idea that the US and China work together to settle the world’s key questions between them. The concept of a G2 - which runs the risk of sidelining the concerns US partners like India and allies like Japan have about China’s rapid geopolitical rise - has been a concern for New Delhi.
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However, analysts have observed that Trump has gone to some lengths to court Xi. For example, Trump travelled to Andrews Air Force base to personally welcome Xi on his arrival in the United States. This was the first time Trump has made such a gesture to any foreign leader, including from countries America considers friends and allies.
China watchers in Washington and elsewhere have pointed out that gestures like these have allowed Beijing to send a pointed message to Asian countries, who are already concerned about Trump’s perceived unwillingness to support them in confrontations with China.