BEIJING: US President Donald Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals” and settled “a lot of different problems” in his meetings with China’s Xi Jinping this week, but hours after the summit ended on Friday details on exact agreements remained scarce.
Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal accords in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas.
After the first day wrapped, Trump said Xi had agreed to help open the Strait of Hormuz, as well as buy Boeing jets and more American oil and soybeans.But there have been no formal announcements, and the Chinese foreign ministry would not confirm or deny Trump’s statements when asked on Friday afternoon.
The reserve on the Chinese side echoes the tone of the summit as a whole, where Trump’s overtures to Xi — whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend” — were met with more muted tones by Beijing.
However, the US leader said on Friday “a lot of good” had come out of the visit.“We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said after a walk with Xi among the rosebushes in the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City.
“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” Trump added, without providing specifics.Xi, who promised to send Trump seeds for the White House Rose Garden, said it was a “milestone visit”.
He said the two sides had to date established “a new bilateral relationship, which is a relationship of constructive strategic stability”.On the streets of the capital, reaction to the talks was tepid.“This meeting could be considered a success — though, to be honest, none of us really had very high expectations to begin with,” Zhang Yong, a 46-year-old IT worker, told AFP.
‘Help on Hormuz’In an interview with Fox News after the summit’s first day, Trump said Xi had agreed to several US wishlist points.On the topic of the war in Iran, the US president said Xi had effectively assured his counterpart that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz.
“He’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open, and said ‘if I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help’,” Trump said.The Chinese foreign ministry on Friday released a statement on Iran calling for “a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire”.
“Shipping lanes should be reopened as soon as possible,” it added.At a regular press briefing later a ministry spokesman did not comment when asked if Xi had said China would help with that process.
In the Fox interview, Trump said one big business deal struck involved Xi agreeing to purchase “200 big” Boeing jets.En route home on Air Force One, he added the deal included “a promise of 750 planes, which will be by far the largest order ever, if they do a good job with the 200”.
The president also said Beijing had “agreed it wanted to buy” US oil, and expressed interest in buying American soybeans.China, which is the key foreign customer of Iranian oil, bought small amounts of US oil before Trump imposed tariffs last year.It has sharply slowed down purchases of US soybeans, turning instead to Brazil.China’s foreign ministry again did not confirm or deny the details mentioned by Trump.
