President Donald Trump said China had agreed to buy U.S. oil and 200 Boeing aircraft after meeting Xi Jinping on Thursday, adding a fresh list of commercial pledges to talks that were already being watched for signs of whether the world’s two biggest economies could ease their long-running strain. Trump also said Beijing would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in companies run by the CEOs in his delegation.
Trump and Xi were expected to wrap up two days of meetings on Friday, with Trump saying China would “open up” further as the talks moved from broad political rivalry toward the details of trade and investment. Xi, for his part, expressed interest in buying more U.S. oil during the meeting, and the two leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy.
The claims matter because they point to a possible thaw in a relationship that had been shaped by tariffs, export restrictions and strategic distrust. Trump administration officials indicated that China will increase purchases of U.S. agricultural products and work to establish a Board of Trade to manage investments between the countries, while Taiyi Sun said farm goods such as soya beans and beef, along with Boeing aircraft, were natural areas for expansion because they match Chinese demand with American export strengths. Sun added that any opening in sectors such as financial services would likely come gradually, not all at once.
But the conversation is still running against a hard ceiling. In October, Trump and Xi agreed to a one-year pause in their trade war in South Korea, and observers had already expected little more than stabilisation from this summit rather than a revival in ties. The broader backdrop is a contest that runs far beyond tariffs, touching trade, AI and Taiwan, with one major unresolved issue still hanging over the talks: U.S. export controls on advanced chips used for artificial intelligence.
Claire E Reade said it was important to be clear-eyed about where the relationship stands, saying China does not trust the U.S. and wants to beat it in what it sees as a long-term global competition. That friction is why the details matter as much as the headlines. Trump has tightened some export restrictions on advanced chips even as he allowed Nvidia to sell its second-most powerful GPU, the H200, in the Chinese market, a reminder that even in a period of deal talk, competition over technology has not eased. The next test is whether the promises on oil, aircraft, farm goods and investment move from diplomatic language into purchases that can be counted.
