Donald Trump said at the opening dinner of the summit with Chinese leaders that the talks were very positive, while Xi Jinping expressed hope for a lasting relationship with the United States.
On 14 May 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump said at the opening dinner of the summit in Beijing that discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping were "very positive," amid a summit atmosphere that was warm but shadowed by several points of tension.
“We had very effective and very positive conversations and meetings with the Chinese delegation this morning,” Trump said at the Great Hall of the People, describing the evening as “another precious opportunity to discuss matters among friends.”
The first day of talks concluded with Trump inviting Xi Jinping to visit the White House in the upcoming September.
Meanwhile, Xi Jinping gave a speech during the state-level dinner expressing hope for a sustainable relationship between the two countries and that China's progress could proceed “in harmony” with America's resurgence as a global power.
“The great rejuvenation of China and the making of America great again can proceed fully in parallel, each helping the other to succeed and promoting the welfare of the entire world,” Xi said, referencing Trump’s MAGA campaign.
Donald Trump arrived in Beijing last Wednesday ahead of the important summit starting Thursday. That morning, Trump told Xi Jinping that their countries would have a “great shared future,” praising the host by saying, “It is a great honor to be your friend,” while the Chinese leader cautiously stated that both sides “should be partners, not rivals.”
This visit to Beijing marks the U.S. president’s first in nearly a decade, and the grander reception than before helped overshadow ongoing unresolved tensions over trade and geopolitics between the two nations.
Such conflicts have frequently arisen since Trump’s last visit in 2017, with both countries spending much of 2025 embroiled in a trade war that disrupted the global economy and disagreements over issues like Taiwan.
A recent new point of conflict is the Iran war, which weakened Trump’s position in these negotiations and caused him to postpone his China visit from March to 13 May.
The U.S. president said he expected to have “long talks” with Xi Jinping about Iran, a country that sells most of its oil, sanctioned by the U.S., to China. However, he insisted, “I don’t think we need any help on Iran” from Beijing.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, known as a staunch adversary of Beijing, expressed a slightly different stance, stating, “We hope to persuade them (China) to take a more proactive role in convincing Iran to withdraw from what they are doing and trying to do in the Persian Gulf right now.”
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Source:cna