US President Donald Trump left Beijing after a two-day summit saying he had struck fantastic trade deals, great for both countries, but few details have emerged on what the two superpowers agreed.
Trump arrived for a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, accompanied by several CEOs: a high-profile business delegation spanning agriculture, aviation, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Trade was near the top of the agenda despite recent tensions over the Iran war, and businesses hoped for key deals as well as an extension of the tariff truce that is due to expire in November.
The visit was defined by warm rhetoric and symbolism. Trump was wooed with a packed itinerary that included an honour guard, a state banquet, and an invitation to the exclusive compound where China's Communist Party leaders live and work.
The US president seemed impressed and invited Xi to the White House in September. He said talks had been very successful, while Xi called it a historic and landmark visit.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed on Friday that Xi would visit the White House in the autumn.
But neither side has announced trade breakthroughs or significant business deals.
President Trump, however, spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One and said China had agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets, with a potential commitment to buy an additional 750 planes. The aerospace giant confirmed the deal.
Trump also said American farmers will be happy with his trade deals because China would be buying billions of dollars of soybeans.
There has been no confirmation of any deals or purchases from the Chinese.
If the Boeing orders are finalized, this would be the plane-maker's first major Chinese deal in nearly a decade. It was largely shut out of the world's second-largest aviation market because of trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Asked about Trump's earlier comments to Fox News in which he said deals had been made, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun only said that the essence of China-US economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.
He added that both sides should work to implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders and bring greater stability to bilateral trade ties and the global economy.
There are still questions over the trade truce agreed in October, when Washington suspended steep tariff increases on Chinese goods while Beijing eased back from restricting rare earth exports critical for manufacturing.
Surprisingly, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he and Xi did not discuss tariffs at all.
The White House, however, said both leaders agreed to establish a Board of Trade to manage the relationship without having to reopen tariff negotiations.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had been leading trade talks for Washington, said in a pre-recorded interview with CNBC that he expected progress on a mechanism to support future investment.
US officials have cautioned, however, that there is a lot of work to be done before these announcements can go into effect.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk stepped off the plane ahead of senior officials including Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio and Greer—a sign of the crucial economic agenda that lay ahead.
Huang's appearance was notable because he was not meant to be part of the delegation originally—but when he joined the trip, it fuelled speculation that AI and access to chips was a bigger part of the talks than previously thought.
With electric vehicles, AI, and semiconductors becoming key battlegrounds in the US-China rivalry, both Tesla and Nvidia are very exposed to China.
AI was expected to be a big part of conversations. We talked about possibly working together for guardrails, Trump told reporters. When asked about what kind of guardrails, he added: Standard guardrails that we talk about all the time. He also called for expanded cooperation in trade, agriculture, healthcare, tourism and law enforcement, describing bilateral ties as mutually beneficial and delivering win-win results.
Taiwan, the US ally and self-governed island that Beijing claims, has largely been treated as one of several friction points between the US and China during trade talks over the past year. But this time Beijing linked Taiwan to the broader economic relationship with the United States. Xi warned that if mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict.
As the world waits for the fallout of these discussions, it remains to be seen if any significant changes will emerge from this high-profile summit.
