Talks lasted nearly 2.5 hours at the Great Hall of the People. Trump invited Xi for a White House visit on September 24. AI, trade, and the Iran war also on the two-day agenda.
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At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump that mishandling Taiwan would push the two nations into 'clashes and even conflicts'. Xi called Taiwan 'the most important issue in China-U.S. relations'. The two leaders spoke for nearly 2.5 hours. The two-day Beijing summit, Trump's first China visit since 2017, also covers trade, artificial intelligence, and the Iran war. Trump invited Xi to the White House on September 24.
Xi Jinping speaks for a Beijing facing slowing growth and rising friction over Taiwan arms sales. Donald Trump, in his second term, is balancing a war involving Iran, contested AI export controls, and a coalition that includes hawks on China. The leaders' rapport is real — Trump publicly called Xi 'a friend' and 'a great leader' — but both came in with hard domestic limits. Their lieutenants now negotiate the smaller deals: tariffs, rare earths, AI chips, Taiwan arms.
Taiwan is the one issue where Beijing has never moved. For Xi, the island's de-facto independence under U.S. arms protection contradicts the 'One China' principle the People's Republic considers foundational. Xinhua's readout of the meeting framed Taiwan as 'the most important issue' in bilateral relations — the strongest signalling possible short of an explicit threat. Trump's first-term arms package to Taipei, restarted under his second-term defence secretary, has irritated Beijing repeatedly through 2025 and early 2026.
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Day two of the summit, on Friday, is expected to focus on trade, rare earths, AI chip export controls, and the war involving Iran, where both Washington and Beijing have leverage over Tehran's economic lifelines. Trump has already issued a reciprocal White House invitation for September 24, signalling he wants the diplomacy to keep moving. Whether Beijing accepts the date, or counter-proposes a third-country meet, will indicate how serious China sees the off-ramp on Taiwan and Iran.
Beneath the headline warning, the practical bargaining is intense. China supplies most of the world's rare-earth processing; the U.S. dominates the cutting edge of AI chip design. Either side using its lever harshly could disrupt EV supply chains, semiconductor fabs and global pricing. For Indian and other third-country importers — already absorbing higher tariffs from the trade pivot — Friday's communiqué will likely move costs more than the Taiwan rhetoric ever does. State banquets aside, this is a working summit.
Chronology
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President Donald Trump lands in Beijing on his first China state visit since 2017, kicking off a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping against a backdrop of trade friction, Iran war diplomacy, and renewed Taiwan tensions.
At a state banquet later in the evening, Trump publicly invites Xi and his wife to the White House on September 24 — a reciprocal state visit that would mark Xi's first U.S. trip since 2023.
At the Great Hall of the People, Xi Jinping tells Trump that the U.S. and China will have clashes and even conflicts if Taiwan is mishandled, calling it the most important issue in bilateral relations. The two leaders speak for nearly 2.5 hours.
On Friday, the summit's second day, the agenda is expected to cover trade, rare-earth processing, AI chip export controls, and the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, where both Washington and Beijing have leverage over Tehran's economic lifelines.
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