The first bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping took place in Busan, South Korea, since the beginning of Trump's second term. In his first comments after the negotiations, the American leader described the meeting as "amazing."
The meeting lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes, exceeding the scheduled time on Trump's agenda. He informed journalists about the results of the negotiations aboard the plane, while Xi Jinping has not yet made any comments.
Trump has already left South Korea and is heading back to Washington, while Xi will continue to participate in the APEC summit.
The American president stated: "It was an amazing meeting. He is a great leader," adding that he rates the meeting a 12 on a scale of 10.
Trump also announced that the U.S. will soon reduce tariffs on all Chinese goods in exchange for measures to stop the export of fentanyl components to the U.S., although he did not specify what the new tariff levels would be, according to the BBC.
Additionally, China will resume imports of American soybeans and will stop creating barriers to the export of rare earth metals.
Trump noted that the issue of rare earth metals has been resolved: "This concerns the whole world, not just the U.S. There are no more barriers from China," he added.
Here is what else Trump reported:
- He plans to visit China in April.
- Taiwan was not discussed during the meeting, although China considers it its rebellious province and does not rule out the use of force to establish control. Taiwan has its own democratically elected government.
- The issue of Ukraine was raised, and Trump stated: "We will work together on this issue. We agreed that both sides are in a difficult position, and sometimes it is necessary to let them fight it out, but we will cooperate on Ukraine."
Xi and Trump arrived in Busan less than an hour before the negotiations began.
Welcoming the Chinese leader, Trump expressed hope for a "very successful meeting."
Xi noted that since Trump took office, they have communicated by phone three times and exchanged letters. "It is normal for the two leading economies in the world to encounter difficulties from time to time," he added.
Xi also emphasized that he has repeatedly spoken about the need for friendship and partnership between the U.S. and China, which "requires reality and lessons from history."
After these statements, Trump and Xi went into closed negotiations, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Latnik, Chief of Staff Suzy Wiles, and U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue participating from the U.S. side.
The Chinese delegation is led by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his deputy Ma Zhaoxu, Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng, Chief of Staff Cai Qi, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Zheng Shanjie.
On the eve of the meeting, Trump posted on his Truth Social site about the "immediate" resumption of U.S. nuclear tests, pointing to China.
"Russia is in second place, and China is in third, but in five years it will be able to compete with us," he noted.
Later, speaking to reporters on the plane, Trump said that now is the right time to resume testing.
"This is related to other factors," the president added, emphasizing that the U.S. still has the most powerful nuclear arsenal.
