3 Key Takeaways from the Historic Meeting Between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping
Donald Trump’s visit to China this week has given a major boost to the fragile trade truce between Washington and Beijing. The meeting also helped to stabilise relations between the two countries.
Although it was delayed for more than a month due to the Iran war, the two-day summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping ended on Friday local time with an agreement to meet again this autumn.
Here are three key takeaways from the historic meeting:
- Taiwan and Iran Issues Dominate the Meeting
Xi’s warning to Trump about Taiwan was one of the main highlights. Chinese state media reported that Xi stressed that mishandling Taiwan could put US-China relations in “great danger”.
On the other hand, global oil prices also rose after Trump told Fox News that China had agreed to buy US crude oil and would help with the negotiations on Iran. However, Trump did not disclose when the purchases would begin or the volume.
To date, China has not confirmed plans to buy the oil. The US government has also not made any additional statements about Taiwan.
“I think both sides have kept their promises. However, there was no substantive discussion about Taiwan, which is not surprising,” said Yue Su, Chief China Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, as quoted by CNBC International on Friday (15/5/2026).
“Further discussion on Iran highlights that they have common ground. The fact that both sides want to portray the meeting as a success shows good intentions, at least,” he added.
He also believes that China’s ability to help Iran is limited.
“There are limits to what China can realistically do, as the Iranian regime operates in survival mode and will prioritise its own interests and agenda above all else,” he said.
- Trade Truce Remains in Place
Neither the US nor China has announced specific details of their latest agreement. However, Trump’s invitation to Xi to visit the US on September 24 opens the possibility of further talks before the trade truce expires in October 2025.
Previously, the two countries agreed to lower tariffs and lift restrictions on rare earth metals after tensions escalated in early 2025. Xi said that the US and China agreed to build “strategic stability” for the next three years.
China Macro Group analyst Jack Lee believes that Beijing is trying to use Trump’s transactional approach to build a long-term relationship with Washington.
“Strategically, Beijing appears to be trying to turn Trump’s willingness to make deals to stabilise relations into a long-term operational framework for US-China relations,” he said.
According to him, this framework could potentially become the foundation for relations between the two countries even for the next US administration.
- Fresh Wind for US Business
Trump also revealed that China would order 200 aircraft from Boeing. This is higher than the company’s initial expectations of around 150 units, although it is still far below the market’s initial projection of 500 units.
In addition, Nvidia is said to have received permission from the US government to resume selling H200 chips to major Chinese companies. The news boosted technology stocks.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang accompanied Trump to Beijing. A number of other top US executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla’s Elon Musk, also attended a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday.
However, the Chinese government has only promised to open up the market further for foreign businesses without any concrete new policy details.