China says Xi-Trump summit strengthened trust, set new direction for bilateral ties

BEIJING: China on Friday hailed the latest summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump as a major diplomatic breakthrough that deepened mutual trust, enhanced strategic communication and injected much-needed certainty into an increasingly volatile global environment.

In a detailed statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Trump’s state visit to Beijing — undertaken at Xi’s invitation — marked the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nearly a decade and reflected the importance both countries attached to stabilising relations amid rising geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainty.

The ministry noted that the summit represented the second in-person meeting between the two leaders since their meeting in Busan last October, during which both sides had agreed to maintain regular high-level engagement to prevent further deterioration in ties.

During the visit, Xi hosted a grand welcome ceremony and state banquet for Trump at the Great Hall of the People. The two leaders also visited the historic Temple of Heaven, a symbolic gesture Beijing portrayed as reflecting mutual respect and the importance of long-term engagement between the world’s two largest economies.

According to the ministry, Xi and Trump held extensive talks lasting more than two hours and conducted “in-depth, candid and constructive” exchanges on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

A central outcome of the summit was the agreement on a new framework described as a “constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability”, which Chinese officials said would guide bilateral ties over the next three years and beyond.

Beijing said the framework aimed to establish a more predictable and stable relationship by promoting cooperation, managing competition responsibly and ensuring that differences between the two countries did not escalate into confrontation.

Chinese officials stressed that both countries “stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation”, adding that stable China-US ties were essential not only for both nations but also for global peace, trade and economic growth.

The Foreign Ministry said the two presidents also reached important understandings on properly managing each other’s concerns and agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on key international and regional matters, including economic governance, supply chains, technology cooperation and global security challenges.

Economic and trade issues featured prominently during the summit, particularly amid ongoing tensions over tariffs, technology restrictions and market access.

The visit was accompanied by a high-profile delegation of American business leaders, including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang and Cristiano Amon, highlighting continued interest among US corporations in the Chinese market despite strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Chinese officials described the presence of the business delegation as evidence that economic cooperation between the two countries remained deeply interconnected and mutually beneficial.

The ministry further emphasised that the summit had delivered a positive signal to the international community at a time when conflicts in the Middle East, instability in global markets and disruptions to supply chains had heightened uncertainty worldwide.

According to Beijing, the Xi-Trump meeting demonstrated that dialogue and high-level diplomacy remained the most effective way to manage differences between major powers and avoid confrontation.

The statement concluded by saying China was prepared to continue working with the United States to maintain communication, expand practical cooperation and promote what it described as a stable, peaceful and sustainable international order.