Xi leaves Washington after summit with trade truce extension and no major breakthroughs

Xi Jinping has left Washington after a three-day state visit that was long on ceremony but short on concrete deals. It was his first trip to the United States in more than a decade and his first White House state visit. President Trump greeted him personally at Joint Base Andrews, an honour rarely given to foreign leaders. There was a red carpet, a military honour guard and a flypast by B-1 bombers. Xi was accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan. The two leaders held talks at the White House, watched a military review in the Rose Garden, had tea in the Red Room and attended a state dinner. They also visited the National Archives.

Trump said the two countries had made 'tremendous strides' and that he and Xi had forged a 'truly great friendship'. Xi said the relationship would be one of 'constructive strategic stability' based on respect, fairness and reciprocity. He also said the two countries should 'coexist in peace' and that they would both gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Trump said America and China were both happy with the visit and that it had been 'very, very productive'. The warm words were not matched by major agreements.

Trade produced the only concrete announcement. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the bilateral trade truce, which had been due to expire in November, would be extended to 10 January. The truce had scaled back the worst tariffs from the trade war. The extension was shorter than China had wanted. Analysts said it was the minimum expected from the summit. Trump hinted there could be good news for US farmers, but no detailed deal on agriculture, aircraft or rare earths was announced. China wants more access to high-end US chips, while the US wants China to keep supplying rare earths. Both sides have an interest in avoiding a return to full trade war, but structural disputes remain.

AI dominated the agenda. Trump has said he wants to accelerate AI development and has rejected calls for strict guardrails. He has taken to calling it SI, or super intelligence. Xi said AI must remain under human control and serve the wellbeing of people. He called for global governance and cooperation. The two sides discussed a possible notification mechanism or hotline to warn each other about AI risks to national security, but no firm agreement was confirmed. The summit came as OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei told the UN Security Council that AI could pose a risk to humanity and needed global cooperation. Tech bosses including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg attended the state dinner.

China used the visit to showcase its AI ambitions. In Inner Mongolia, dozens of data centres are being built on former farmland, with more than 100 in one area. China aims to run 80% of its data centres on renewable energy by 2030. It is also promoting open-source AI models to developing countries. Some local people said they saw few benefits and feared losing land, though there was little organised opposition. Beijing presents AI as a source of national pride and a way to compete with the US.

Taiwan was another major issue. Xi urged the US to oppose Taiwan independence and to handle arms sales prudently. China wants Washington to delay or cancel a $14bn arms package to Taiwan. Trump has not announced a change in US policy. On Iran, the US wants China to use its leverage over Tehran, its biggest oil buyer. US officials have accused China of providing intelligence to Iran that put American troops at risk. China's readout played down the issue. The war in Ukraine and China's support for Russia also remain points of friction.

The summit was overshadowed by a media access row. Trump had banned CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House. A federal judge ordered their access restored. Television networks boycotted pooled coverage in solidarity, so there was little video of the early ceremonial events. The state dinner was not shown on US network TV but was broadcast on Chinese state TV. The White House briefly appeared to defy the court order before allowing the outlets back. Protesters outside the Chinese embassy and the National Archives highlighted human rights abuses.

Trump and Xi agreed to meet twice more this year, at APEC in Shenzhen in November and the G20 in Miami in December. Xi also announced two pandas for Atlanta Zoo and said China would welcome 100,000 American students over five years. Analysts said the main achievement was stability and the symbolism of treating China as an equal. Critics said Trump was too deferential to an authoritarian leader and had gained little in return. The trade truce extension and the promise of further talks leave the biggest disputes unresolved.