Trump-Xi summit live: US president departs from China

U.S. President Donald Trump completed his first official visit to China in nearly nine years, arriving in Shanghai on Wednesday evening and departing Beijing on Friday. The trip centered on high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, including formal meetings, a state banquet, and private discussions in Xi’s residence at Zhongnanhai. Key topics covered trade relations, tensions over Taiwan, the Iran conflict, and advancements in artificial intelligence, with Trump accompanied by corporate executives such as Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. During the visit, Xi and Trump engaged in informal conversation, with Xi highlighting ancient trees on the Zhongnanhai grounds and noting that few foreign leaders had visited the site before. Trump’s departure from Beijing was marked by a brief farewell ceremony, where Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi bid him goodbye before he boarded Air Force One. Chinese officials later stressed the 'win-win' nature of U.S.-China economic ties, citing 'important understandings' reached between the two leaders to stabilize trade and global economic cooperation. On the contentious issue of Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul and pro-democracy activist, China’s foreign ministry dismissed U.S. calls for his release, labeling him a 'mastermind' behind 20019 protests and reaffirming the case as an internal matter. Trump had earlier touted a potential 200-jet sale to Boeing during his visit, though analysts noted the deal would have minimal impact on Boeing’s market share in China. The summit left Taiwan on edge, with observers monitoring subtle shifts in U.S. policy toward the self-governing island amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.