Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up critical talks on Friday, claiming important progress in stabilising US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers. 

Xi welcomed Trump at his official residence, Zhongnanhai, on Friday for the final talks of the summit before the US leader returned to Washington.

Over tea and lunch, Trump and Xi, with top aides and translators in attendance, huddled for nearly three hours of talks before the US leader completed his three-day visit to China.

“It’s been really a great couple of days,” Trump told reporters as he sat with Xi before the start of their meeting with aides.

Xi, for his part, called it a “milestone” visit.

“We have established a new bilateral relationship, or rather a constructive, strategic, stable relationship,” he said.

Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” with Xi but gave no further details.

“Hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Xi had congratulated him “on so many tremendous successes in such a short period of time”.

The talks have yet to deliver any major economic breakthroughs, with Trump primarily focused on securing deals in the agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence sectors.

The summit, so far, has mainly been aimed at stabilising the relationship between the US and China and maintaining a fragile truce agreed on at the end of last year.

In October, Washington agreed to lower tariffs on all Chinese goods, while Beijing agreed to pause its restrictions on rare earths exports.

Besides trade, the two leaders did seem to make some progress on the topic of the Iran war.

Xi told Trump that Beijing wants to help negotiate an end to the war and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. China’s heavy reliance on Iranian oil could help it influence Tehran into making a deal with Washington.

According to the White House, “the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy”.

Trump added that China reassured it would not provide Iran with military equipment.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has emerged as one of the most divisive topics on the agenda, with Xi warning the US that disagreements over the self-governed island—which China claims as its own—could lead to clashes or conflict.

In December, Washington approved an $11 billion arms package to Taiwan, which it has not yet moved forward with delivering.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned it would be a “terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force. (Euronews)

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