Trump China visit LIVE updates: US president meets Xi Jinping in Beijing under shadow of Iran war, Taiwan uncertainty

Pinned post from 8.57am
Go to latest

What happened today

By Tom Housden

We’re pausing our live coverage of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China for tonight. Thanks for joining us today – we will resume tomorrow. Here’s a recap of what happened:

• Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a state banquet in Beijing this evening to wrap up the first day of their landmark summit.
• The day began with a lavish welcome ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, featuring a military guard of honour and a crowd of cheering schoolchildren.
• During the closed-door meeting that followed, Xi reportedly warned that the issue of Taiwan could push relations between the two powers into “a very dangerous place”, with the potential for “collision or clashes”.
• The two presidents agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy, according to a White House readout of the meeting, which did not mention Taiwan.
• Other topics on the table include technology and trade, on which Xi said the sides were making progress in talks towards a “positive outcome”.
• A high-powered delegation of American business leaders is accompanying Trump to China, including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, Larry Fink, David Solomon and Kelly Ortberg.
• Thursday’s meeting lasted two hours – much longer than expected. Afterwards, Xi accompanied Trump for a tour of the city’s ancient Confucian Temple of Heaven.
• Xi will host Trump for another round of talks at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership compound, on Friday morning before the US president departs later that day.