Trump and Xi end the state visit with the trade truce extended and no substantive deals

Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington ended on Thursday with a two-month extension of the bilateral trade truce, agreed before the meeting itself, and no progress on the central issues dividing the two powers: tariffs, rare earths, agricultural purchases, Taiwan and export restrictions on advanced chips.

The extension was settled on Wednesday night, after an unscheduled meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. It runs to January 10 an agreement that was due to expire on November 10 and which had lowered US tariffs and suspended Chinese export controls on rare earths and critical minerals. Those same talks produced a commitment to explore a communication mechanism for artificial intelligence incidents affecting national security.

Each side arrived with a request that went unanswered. Washington wants Beijing to use its influence over Tehran to end a war approaching its seventh month. Xi is seeking a permanent halt to arms sales to Taiwan and an easing of restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports. According to Chinese state agency Xinhua, he urged the United States to “adhere to the correct position of opposing Taiwan independence and handle the Taiwan issue with prudence”, one of his most explicit statements on the matter. After May's summit in Beijing, the US administration postponed a US$14 billion arms sale to Taipei; Trump has described such sales as “a very good negotiating tool” in dealing with China.

Artificial intelligence was the clearest point of declared agreement. Xi said both countries “have the capacity and the responsibility to develop and manage AI effectively, ensuring its development remains under human control”. Trump had written before the meeting that he wanted to leave it “exactly as it is”, attributing the same position to China.

It is the first state visit by a Chinese leader to the United States since 2015, though Xi was in the country in 2023 for the APEC summit in San Francisco. The three-day visit began with his arrival on Wednesday evening at Joint Base Andrews, where Trump met him at the foot of the aircraft steps, and continued with a Thursday ceremony featuring a military review, gift exchange and flyover. Trump spoke of a “truly great friendship” built on “mutual respect and the vital interests of our people”.

The day closed with a state banquet for 134 guests in the White House East Room, decorated in red and gold. Neither the speeches nor the toast referred to bilateral tensions. Trump said he and Xi had “never” got on “better” and presented a carving of a bald eagle as a gift. Xi called on both countries to act “as responsible major powers” and to “explore a new path” for cooperation. The menu combined American ingredients with Chinese influence and opened with the same wine shared by Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai during the visit that restored relations between the two countries.

Guests included Elon Musk, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, AMD's Lisa Su, Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. The Chinese delegation included no business figures, an early sign the summit would not produce concrete results.

The two will meet twice more before the end of the year: in November in Shenzhen, at the APEC summit, and in December in Miami, at the G-20, both after the US midterm elections.