Trump and Xi Open Historic Beijing Summit — Taiwan, Trade, and Iran All on the Table

President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a landmark two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping — the most significant face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the world's two largest economies in years. The visit is Trump's first to China as a sitting president since his first term, and comes at a moment of acute global tension: the United States is embroiled in an ongoing war with Iran, global trade disruptions continue to ripple outward, and Taiwan's status remains the world's most volatile flashpoint.

The two leaders met at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, where Xi greeted Trump on the stairs in a ceremony broadcast on official Chinese state television. In their first round of talks, Xi issued a direct warning that would set the tone for the entire summit: if the United States mishandles the question of Taiwan's independence, he said, it would put "the entire relationship in great jeopardy" — and could lead to "clashes and even conflicts" between the two powers.

Despite the sharp rhetoric on Taiwan, the summit's overall atmosphere was described as surprisingly warm. The two leaders also visited the Temple of Heaven together — a symbolic gesture that analysts noted was designed to project harmony for domestic and global audiences. Both sides issued readouts describing agreement to build a "constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability" that would serve as a guiding framework for the next three years and beyond.

On trade, the summit builds on a thaw that began at a prior Xi-Trump meeting in South Korea late last year, which ended a period of aggressive tit-for-tat tariffs. Ahead of Thursday's talks, Beijing issued new import licenses for hundreds of U.S. slaughterhouses — restoring American beef access to Chinese markets as a goodwill gesture. Trump's team pushed for broader Chinese purchases of American soybeans, Boeing aircraft, and industrial goods. Harvard professor Graham Allison told CNBC he would not be surprised if Trump announced a headline deal for China to buy an additional $1 trillion in American goods.

On Iran, both leaders agreed the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that Tehran cannot be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. However, analysts cautioned that China is unlikely to take concrete steps to end the conflict — Beijing has long supported the Iranian regime and relies heavily on Iranian oil. Trump told Fox News's Sean Hannity that Xi had said China would not supply Tehran with military equipment, while acknowledging Beijing wants to continue purchasing Iranian oil.

Trump brought a remarkable entourage to Beijing, including Elon Musk (Tesla), Tim Cook (Apple), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Larry Fink (BlackRock), and Kelly Ortberg (Boeing) — a who's who of American business that signaled the summit's commercial ambitions. Trump has already invited Xi to visit the White House on September 24.