Trump Heads Home After Tea Meeting and Luncheon in Zhongnanhai [US-China Summit]

S. President Donald Trump (second from right), who is on a state visit to China, walks side-by-side with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the garden at Zhongnanhai in Beijing on the 15th.
Reuters/Yonhap News [Financial News] U. S.
President Donald Trump, who is on a state visit to China, announced that he reached a trade agreement during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and that the two countries shared a common stance on opposing Iran's possession of nuclear weapons and opening the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump conveyed this to reporters after meeting with President Xi at Zhongnanhai, the heart of Beijing, ahead of his return home on the 15th, the final day of his visit to China.
While strolling through the garden of Zhongnanhai, the residence of the Chinese leadership, with President Xi, President Trump emphasized, "Many good results were achieved through this meeting," adding, "Great trade agreements were concluded for both countries. " Prior to the meeting, President Trump shared on his social media that President Xi had congratulated him on his "numerous tremendous successes.
" He added, "The relationship between the world's two major powers is very good and is getting better. " Foreign media reported that President Trump and President Xi conversed while strolling through the Zhongnanhai Gardens in a relatively relaxed atmosphere, accompanied only by interpreters.
The two leaders held a small-scale meeting in the form of a tea gathering and a working luncheon. During the tea gathering, President Trump stated, "This visit was a remarkable one," emphasizing in particular the trade agreement reached.
Attending the tea gathering from the U. S.
side were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U. S.
Trade Representative (USTR) Jamison Greer, and U. S.
Ambassador to China David Perdue. On the Chinese side, Cai Qi, Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, and Chinese Ambassador to the U.
S. Xie Feng were present.
President Trump once again expressed his gratitude to President Xi for the invitation to visit China. Expressing this, he reiterated his request for a return visit to the United States on September 24.
He stated, "President Xi will visit the United States," adding, "Just like reciprocal trade, the visit will also be reciprocal. " He also described President Xi as a "person I respect very much" and a "friend.
" President Xi also assessed President Trump's visit to China as a "historic and symbolic visit. " He continued, "We have established a new bilateral relationship, a new relationship called a 'constructive strategic stability relationship,'" emphasizing that "this is a milestone event.
" President Xi added, "We have achieved many results in cooperation. " President Trump pointed to the roses in the Zhongnanhai Garden and called them "the most beautiful roses no one has ever seen," to which President Xi said he would send rose seeds to President Trump.
When asked by reporters if he was enjoying the visit, President Trump gave a thumbs-up instead of answering, expressing his satisfaction. Interpretations suggest that President Xi’s invitation to President Trump to Zhongnanhai carries the meaning of highlighting his initiative in bilateral relations through his "home-court diplomacy.
" In particular, analysts view this as a sort of reciprocal gesture following President Trump’s invitation to President Xi to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2017. Zhongnanhai is also a place of great symbolic significance in the history of U.
S. -China relations.
In 1972, then-U. S.
President Richard Nixon met with then-Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong there, paving the way for U. S.
-China détente. President Trump boarded his private jet, Air Force One, on this day to return home.
U. S.
President Donald Trump raises his fist to wave as he boards Air Force One at Beijing Airport on the 15th for his return.
S. President Donald Trump (second from right), who is on a state visit to China, walks side-by-side with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the garden at Zhongnanhai in Beijing on the 15th.
S. President Donald Trump (second from right), who is on a state visit to China, walks side-by-side with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the garden at Zhongnanhai in Beijing on the 15th.S. President Donald Trump (second from right), who is on a state visit to China, walks side-by-side with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the garden at Zhongnanhai in Beijing on the 15th.
jjyoon@fnnews.com Yoon Jae-jun Reporter