President Donald Trump said Friday that he had made "fantastic trade deals" with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
The two met again Friday morning, and Trump was already departing on Air Force One. As the President entered Air Force One shortly before takeoff, he raised his fist in the air twice.
Trump arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in areas such as agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as narrow differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas, most notably the Middle East war.
Trump's proposals to Xi, whom he described as a "great leader" and "friend," were met with softer tones by the Chinese President.
However, the American leader said that "a lot of good" has come from the visit.
"We've made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries," he said after a walk with Xi among the rose bushes in the Zhongnanhai Gardens, next to Beijing's Forbidden City.
"We've solved a lot of different problems that other people couldn't solve," Trump added, without giving details.
Xi said it was a "landmark visit" and that the two sides had so far created "a new bilateral relationship, which is a relationship of constructive strategic stability."
He promised to send Trump seeds for the White House Rose Garden.
Hormuz
In an interview with Fox News after the first day of the summit, Trump said Xi had agreed to many items on the US 'wish list'.
On the issue of war in Iran, the US President stated that Xi essentially assured his counterpart that China is not preparing to militarily assist Tehran, which has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
"He said he's not going to give military equipment... he said that very strongly," Trump told Fox.
"He would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open and he said 'if I can help with anything, I'd like to help,'" Trump added.
Asked whether the two leaders had discussed Iran, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday calling for "a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire."
"Sea routes should be reopened as soon as possible, in response to the calls of the international community," he added.
Ταϊβάν
Thursday's warm handshakes and pomp were overshadowed by a direct warning from Xi about a much older geopolitical flashpoint, Taiwan.
Shortly after the talks began, Chinese state media reported that Xi had told Trump that mistakes on the sensitive Taiwan issue could push their two countries into "conflict."
Trump did not mention Taiwan in his Fox News interview and did not comment to reporters when asked about the issue during the visit.
The US Treasury Secretary told CNBC that the President will say more “in the coming days.”
Moreover, the Secretary of State told NBC on Thursday that "US policy on the Taiwan issue remains unchanged."
Beijing had raised the issue, he said, but "we always clarify our position and move on to other issues."
Taipei responded on Friday by thanking Washington "for its repeated expression of support."
Oil and Boeing
Trump did not elaborate on Friday on the trade deals he said had been sealed with China.
However, in the Fox interview, Trump said that a major business deal reached involved Xi's agreement to buy "200 large" Boeing aircraft.
Shares of the US airline giant fell after Trump's comments, in a sign that the market was expecting a stronger purchase from China.
The US President also said that Beijing had also expressed interest in buying American oil and soybeans.
China, which is the main foreign customer of Iranian oil, was buying small amounts of American oil before Trump imposed tariffs last year.
It has sharply slowed purchases of American soybeans, turning instead to Brazil.
Asked about the business deals Trump had mentioned in the interview, China's Foreign Ministry neither confirmed nor denied the information.
Source: KYPE
