Under a thick haze of Beijing humidity and with the immense Tiananmen Square guarded, Donald Trump was welcomed with all the ceremonial pomp with which China impresses its guests. In front of the monumental ochre columns facade of the Great Hall of the People, the building where the Communist Party holds its major congresses and receives foreign heads of state, a red carpet ran across the square to the steps of the East Gate, where Xi Jinping stood motionless.
The U.S. presidential limousine, known as The Beast, slowly stopped in front of the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army. Trump stepped out of the vehicle adjusting his navy blue jacket and walked towards Xi amid the thunder of a 21-gun salute that echoed over the political heart of Beijing. Both leaders shook hands for several seconds, holding a stiff smile for the grand occasion while the flags of the United States and China waved on either side of the main entrance.
But beyond the imperial staging and gestures of cordiality, the protagonists of this summit made it clear from the outset that the most explosive issues in the bilateral relationship remained intact. Xi issued a stern warning on Taiwan, the matter that Beijing considers an absolute red line in its foreign policy. The Chinese president conveyed to Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to "confrontations" between Beijing and Washington and described the island as "the most important issue" in the entire bilateral relationship.
In parallel, both leaders tried to display a common position on the Middle East and the war with Iran. According to the statement later released by the White House, Trump and Xi agreed that Tehran "should never have nuclear weapons" and advocated for ensuring the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to international energy traffic, without fees or restrictions that threaten global trade.
The message reflected a shared interest: to prevent the conflict from impacting the global economy and supply chains at a particularly delicate moment for both countries. Additionally, Trump told Fox that Xi had agreed to "help resolve the Iran crisis."
Xi also wanted to send a reassuring signal to the powerful American business delegation accompanying Trump to Beijing. In a subsequent meeting with several executives and tech magnates, the Chinese leader assured that China's doors "will open wider and wider" to foreign businesses, in an attempt to attract Wall Street and Silicon Valley amidst the technological and commercial war between the two powers.
In a meeting that lasted over two hours, under the enormous chandeliers and in front of a long table adorned with red and yellow floral arrangements, Xi took the floor first, raising one of the intellectual obsessions that has hovered over the relationship between the two powers for years: the so-called Thucydides Trap, a theory popularized in American academic circles suggesting that an emerging power and a dominant one are inevitably destined for conflict. In a measured and solemn tone, the Chinese president posed the overarching question that loomed over the entire summit: whether China and the United States would be able to avoid that historical fate and build a stable coexistence between the two largest economies in the world.
"I have always believed that our two countries have more common interests than differences," Xi stated, looking directly at Trump across the table. "China and the U.S. have much to gain from cooperation and much to lose from confrontation. We must be partners, not rivals." The Chinese leader reiterated several times the idea of "prospering together," a recurring formula in Beijing's diplomatic narrative, and appealed to the historical responsibility of both leaders in a time of "unprecedented changes in a century," another favorite expression of the Chinese ideological apparatus to describe the current transformation of the world order.
"As leaders of two great countries, we must jointly address the questions of our time," Xi continued. "We must find the right way to get along with each other and build a new path for relations between major powers." It was a message directed at multiple recipients. Outwardly, Xi sought to project China as a rational and stabilizing actor in the increasingly chaotic international scenario. Inwardly, he reinforced the idea that Beijing is negotiating with Washington from a position of strategic equality, something crucial for the nationalist narrative promoted by the Communist Party.
Trump responded with a completely different tone: less doctrinal, more personal, and clearly aimed at the cameras. With his hands resting on the polished table and surrounded by much of his powerful economic and security cabinet, the U.S. president repeatedly praised his personal relationship with the Chinese leader. "We have a fantastic relationship. It is an honor to be your friend," he said. "President Xi is a great leader and a highly respected man." He then raised the grandiloquent tone he usually reserves for major occasions even higher: "We are going to have a fantastic future together. Some say this may be the most important summit in history."
Trump insisted that relations between Washington and Beijing "will be better than ever," a statement made after weeks of new tariff threats, reciprocal sanctions, and military tensions around Taiwan. But therein lies one of the peculiarities of the relationship between the two leaders: the ability to alternate between the most aggressive confrontation and the most effusive personal praise, while colossal economic, strategic, and technological interests move around them.
This reality could be perfectly seen in the composition of the delegation accompanying the U.S. president in the Great Hall of the People. Behind Trump and Xi, on the gigantic staircase of the building, stood the political core of Washington in a visit already considered the most important of the Republican's second term. There were Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent; Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth; Trade Representative Jamieson Greer; Ambassador to Beijing, David Perdue; Stephen Miller, now one of the most influential men in the White House; as well as Eric Trump and Lara Trump, also part of the presidential trip.
But the most revealing image appeared a few meters back, among businessmen, bankers, and tech executives who observed every gesture of the ceremony aware that much of their business depends on what happens during these 48 hours of meetings in Beijing. Elon Musk raised his phone to photograph the military parade while talking to Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, in a scene that summarized better than any official statement the true background of the summit: the battle for trade, artificial intelligence, and control of the global supply chains that sustain the world economy.
In an unusual gesture, as shown in images broadcast by Chinese state television, the business leaders of the U.S. delegation entered the meeting room where Xi and Trump were holding discussions. In his opening speech, Trump said he had brought the top business leaders of his country to "pay tribute to Xi and China."
The deep differences between the two powers were even reflected in how the summit itself was portrayed. While the official statement released by Beijing focused on security and Xi's warning on Taiwan, the Washington version avoided any direct reference to the island and concentrated almost exclusively on commercial, energy, and economic issues.
The Trump Administration's reading highlighted China's interest in increasing purchases of U.S. oil and emphasized cooperation against the trafficking of fentanyl precursors. On the other hand, Beijing presented the meeting as the beginning of a new framework of "constructive strategic stability" between the two superpowers, a diplomatic formulation completely absent from the U.S. statement and reflecting to what extent China seeks to project the idea of a relationship of equals with Washington.
After the discussions in the Great Hall of the People, Xi and Trump's joint convoy left the political heart of Beijing, crossing avenues completely emptied of traffic towards the Temple of Heaven, the 15th-century imperial complex where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties prayed for good harvests. Among lacquered wooden pavilions, ancient cypresses, and circular roofs covered with blue tiles, both leaders took a carefully choreographed brief walk for the official cameras.
Beijing wanted to use the symbolism of the place to project an image of harmony and historical continuity in a bilateral relationship marked in recent years by tariffs, technological sanctions, and military tensions. Trump, long fascinated by Chinese ceremonial grandeur, appeared particularly comfortable during the tour, stopping several times to admire the imperial architecture while Xi played the solemn and restrained host.
Hours later, as evening fell over the Chinese capital, both leaders returned to the Great Hall of the People to attend the grand State banquet. The main table, adorned with lotus flowers and small replicas of iconic Beijing landmarks, was meticulously designed to emphasize the historical significance that the Communist Party wanted to give to the visit. In front of a long line of entrepreneurs, ministers, and high-ranking officials from both countries, Xi raised his glass during the toast and delivered one of the most political messages of the entire day.
The Chinese president defined Trump's visit as "a historic visit" and made a carefully calculated nod to the political universe of the Republican president by stating that "the great revitalization of the Chinese nation and the return of the United States to greatness can coexist, complement each other, and benefit the world."
The statement, immediately interpreted in Beijing as a direct reference to the Trumpian slogan Make America Great Again (MAGA), aimed to present the competition between the two powers not as a zero-sum game but as a possible coexistence between two ambitious national projects. "We both believe that the relationship between China and the US is the most important bilateral relationship in the world," Xi added. "We must make it work and never ruin it."
Trump responded with a much more emotional and personal tone, once again showering Xi Jinping with praise and praising the "incredible hospitality" of China. The US president stated that he had never seen "such a spectacular reception" and affirmed that the personal relationship between them will be key to avoiding an escalation between Washington and Beijing.
At the end of his speech, Trump invited Xi and the First Lady, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House, indicating the date of September 24.
Behind the smiles, toasts, and imperial scenery, both leaders were trying to convey to the world a fundamental idea: that, despite the growing rivalry between the two superpowers, neither is willing - at least for now - to push the relationship towards an irreversible rupture.
Trade and Technological Rivalry
The face-to-face meeting on Thursday between the two most powerful leaders in the world, amid current global turbulence, reveals an undeniable line at this moment: despite the trade war and technological rivalry, the two superpowers, still very dependent on each other, are destined to understand each other. Both Trump and Xi need to project strength and deliver results to their respective audiences, although the political urgencies are very different on both sides of the Pacific.
The US president, under constant pressure from polls and the electoral calendar, knows that he needs to return to Washington with concrete headlines: significant Chinese purchases of American agricultural, industrial, and energy products, as well as investment promises capable of presenting the visit as a personal economic triumph.
Xi, on the other hand, is playing a different game. In a China where power has never been as concentrated around the Party leader, his internal position does not allow for dissent. Beijing is not in a hurry for elections; it has strategic patience. And precisely because of this, Trump comes to this summit knowing that, this time, he is the one who needs a visible agreement more.
In the geopolitical arena, Washington wants Beijing to use its influence over Iran to push for peace talks and ensure the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime artery through which approximately half of China's oil imports pass. Beijing has observed the Iranian conflict with calculated caution. But the energy crisis also directly threatens China.
The other inevitable major issue is Taiwan. During the meeting, Xi stated that the island is the "most important issue in China-US relations." He added that "Taiwan's independence and peace in the strait are incompatible."
In December, Washington approved a record $11 billion arms package for Taipei, although some of those shipments remain stalled. Beijing has been pressuring for months to even change the US diplomatic language on the island: it is no longer enough for Washington to "not support" Taiwanese independence; it aspires for the US to explicitly oppose it. In Zhongnanhai, the complex where the Party elite resides, there is a perception that Trump could be more flexible than previous administrations if significant economic concessions are obtained in return.
Hovering over this summit is also the new technological cold war. The US and China are no longer just competing for trade or military influence: they are competing to dominate artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and global innovation chains. The White House accuses Beijing of massive intellectual property theft in US AI labs; China responds by denouncing the technological blockade driven by Washington.
A Highly Economic Agenda
"In a trade war, there are no winners. The essence of the economic and trade relationship between China and the US is mutual benefit and cooperation where everyone wins," Xi told Trump during the talks, as reported by the Xinhua agency.
Trump's visit is marked by a defined economic character. The Republican is in Beijing accompanied by the most powerful business delegation ever seen on a US presidential trip to China. On Air Force One traveled executives from Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, BlackRock, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, GE Aerospace, Qualcomm, Micron Technology, Blackstone, and Cargill. Corporate giants with a combined market capitalization exceeding ten trillion dollars and an annual exposure to the Chinese market surpassing $300 billion.