President Trump and China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping, were meeting in Beijing on Thursday, beginning a high-stakes summit that will focus on trade, Iran, Taiwan and other points of contention.<\/p>\n
The meeting, the first U.S. presidential visit to China in nearly a decade, could determine whether a d\u00e9tente that has prevailed between the superpowers will continue \u2014 and what concessions, if any, either side is willing to make.<\/p>\n
Mr. Xi met Mr. Trump on Thursday morning outside the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. They shook hands, and Mr. Trump patted Mr. Xi on the arm before they walked together past an honor guard and rows of cheering children. As \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d played, a 21-gun salute echoed across Tiananmen Square.<\/p>\n
Inside the Great Hall, both leaders hailed the importance of the U.S.-China relationship. Mr. Xi called for the two countries to work together to confront an increasingly \u201ccomplex and turbulent world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be partners, not adversaries,\u201d he said. \u201cI have always believed that the common interests between China and the United States outweigh their differences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump emphasized his personal relationship with Mr. Xi. \u201cI would call you, and you would call me whenever we had a problem, people don\u2019t know, whenever we had a problem. We worked that out very quickly, and we\u2019re going to have a fantastic future together,\u201d Mr. Trump said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a great leader,\u201d he told Mr. Xi, with both delegations seated facing each other at a long table. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the U.S.A. is going to be better than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two men last met in October in South Korea, where they agreed to pause a bruising trade war in which Beijing had threatened to impose sweeping new restrictions on exports of rare earths in response to triple-digit U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.<\/p>\n
Mr. Xi decided at the time to postpone those measures for a year. A question looming over the summit is whether China will agree to an extension<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has said that his trip to Beijing, which will include meetings with Mr. Xi at historic landmarks and conclude on Friday, will focus on trade and investment.<\/p>\n Several top executives, including Jensen Huang of the chip giant Nvidia, have joined the president in China<\/a>. American business leaders have been pushing for measures that would further open the Chinese market, though analysts say that a major deal is unlikely. Beijing could make some limited promises on purchases of Boeing aircraft and U.S. agricultural goods like soybeans and beef, they say.<\/p>\n The president is also expected to call on Mr. Xi to help persuade Tehran, China\u2019s closest partner in the Middle East<\/a>, to end the deadlocked war that the United States and Israel started in late February.<\/p>\n Mr. Xi will have other priorities. Analysts say he may push for the loosening of U.S. export controls on advanced technology, and for pledges from Mr. Trump not to raise tariffs on Chinese goods, among other things.<\/p>\n But the Chinese leader\u2019s main priority is Taiwan<\/a>, the issue that could most likely set off a war with the United States. Mr. Xi may try to persuade Mr. Trump<\/a> to break with longstanding U.S. policy by saying he opposes independence for Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its territory<\/a>. A related Chinese priority is persuading the United States to curtail its arms sales to Taiwan.<\/p>\n Forcing major shifts in U.S. policies toward Taiwan would be a long shot. But then again, Mr. Xi has a powerful card to play: China\u2019s economic leverage over Iran<\/a>, and the prospect that it could potentially help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway that has been blocked since the war started.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else we\u2019re covering:<\/p>\n Artificial Intelligence: Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi are expected to discuss the risks from A.I., but neither country seems willing to be the first to slow down. Read more \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n Human Rights: Mr. Trump has said he will raise the case of Jimmy Lai<\/a>, an imprisoned pro-democracy media mogul, during his trip. Other human rights issues, including the systemic repression of the Uyghurs, are unlikely to make the agenda. Read more \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n