The summit’s main achievement may be the preservation of a fragile trade truce reached when the two leaders last met in October. Under that arrangement, Washington suspended steep tariffs on Chinese goods, while Beijing stepped back from curbs on exports of rare earths, which are critical for advanced manufacturing and defense supply chains.

US officials said the two sides had also made progress on mechanisms to manage future trade, including plans to draw up a list of non-sensitive goods worth $30bn. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Bloomberg TV on Friday that no decision had yet been made on whether to extend the truce beyond its expiry later this year.

Boeing Deal Falls Short

One of the most closely watched announcements concerned Boeing. Trump told Fox News that China had agreed to order 200 Boeing jets, its first purchase of US-made commercial aircraft in nearly a decade.

The figure was well below the roughly 500 aircraft that markets had expected, and Boeing shares fell more than 4%. The limited detail surrounding the wider package also reinforced the impression that the summit had steadied relations rather than reset them.

“For the market, the summit can be strategically reassuring while underwhelming in substance”, said Chim Lee, senior China analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Iran and the Strait of Hormus

Iran also featured in the talks. China’s foreign ministry issued a blunt statement as Trump and Xi met, saying the war with Iran “should never have happened” and had “no reason to continue”.

Beijing said it supported efforts to reach a peace deal in a conflict that has severely affected energy supplies and the global economy. Trump told reporters that he and Xi had discussed Iran and had “very similar” views, although the Chinese leader did not comment publicly.

Washington had been expected to urge Beijing to press Tehran to reach a deal with the US. Analysts, however, doubt Xi will push Iran hard or end support for its military, given Tehran’s value to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to Washington.

A brief US summary of Thursday’s talks highlighted what the White House called the leaders’ shared desire to reopen the Strait of Hormus, the strategic waterway between Iran and Oman. It also noted Xi’s apparent interest in buying more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on Middle Eastern supplies. In normal times, about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass through the strait.

Taiwan Warning

The sharpest diplomatic warning came over Taiwan. Xi told Trump that mishandling the issue could lead to conflict, delivering a stark message during a summit that otherwise appeared friendly and relaxed.

Taiwan, a democratically governed island about 80 km off China’s coast, has long been one of the most sensitive issues in US-China relations. Beijing claims the island as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of it. Under the Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is required to make defensive arms and services available to Taiwan to help it maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.

“US policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today”, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News. He said China “always” brought up the issue and that the US always made its position clear.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked Washington on Friday for repeatedly expressing its support.

Xi struck a more conciliatory tone at Thursday’s state banquet, calling the China-US relationship the most important in the world. “We must make it work and never mess it up”, he said.

Trump Raises Jimmy Lai Case

Rubio also said Trump had raised the case of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media tycoon and founder of the now-closed pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

Lai, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent critics of Beijing, was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison in the city’s biggest national security case. He was convicted over charges including conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials. Lai has denied all charges against him.

The case has become a prominent human rights issue in Washington, where lawmakers from both parties have pressed for his release. Lai’s family has also urged Trump to intervene personally with Xi.

“The president always raises that case and a couple others, and obviously we will hope to get a positive response from that”, Rubio told NBC News.

“We would be open to any arrangement that would work for them, as long as he is given his freedom”, he said of Lai.

China has rejected foreign criticism of the case and has previously described Hong Kong affairs as an internal matter.

(reuters, bak)