Trump announces “tremendous progress” with China and the possibility of holding two additional meetings before the end of the year

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had made "tremendous progress" during the Chinese president's state visit to Washington, while the two sides revealed that they had discussed the war on Iran and the possibility of holding two additional meetings between them before the end of the year.

“I think we have made tremendous strides and made great strides, which is a very positive thing for both countries,” Trump told reporters, while having tea with Xi at the White House, at the conclusion of the Chinese President’s official visit.

Trump confirmed that he and Xi discussed war against Iran.

In response to a question about whether they discussed the Iranian file, he said, “We did that,” adding, in response to a question about the possibility of making progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, “I think we will achieve excellent results.”

Trump's statements came while he was taking Xi on a tour inside the National Archives building in Washington on the last day of the visit.

Two possible meetings before the end of the year

For his part, the Chinese President indicated the possibility of holding two additional meetings with Trump during the remainder of the year, the first on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in China, and the second during the G20 summit in the United States.

“For the rest of this year, there will be two more opportunities to meet,” Xi said, through a translator, while having tea with Trump at the White House, adding: “I welcome your visit to China, Mr. President and First Lady.”

A notable absence of Chinese businessmen

In contrast to the political messages carried by the visit, senior Chinese businessmen were noticeably absent from the delegation accompanying Xi, in contrast to the widespread presence of leaders of American technology and business companies at the official dinner held by the White House on Thursday.

Of the 134 names on the list of invitees to the banquet, the Chinese delegation included only 19 people, including senior political and economic officials, such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Xi's close aide Cai Qi, and chief trade negotiator He Lifeng.

On the other hand, a number of the most prominent leaders of the technology sector participated from the American side, including Tim Cook from Apple, Jensen Huang from NVIDIA, and Lisa Su from Advanced Micro Devices, along with Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.

Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, said that the absence of senior businessmen may reflect that Beijing's priority was "to make the visit a success, at least in terms of the public image," and not to conclude trade deals. He added that if trade were a top priority, "they would have taken senior business leaders with them."

Experts put forward other possible reasons for the absence of the trade delegation, including American sensitivity towards Chinese companies operating in sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and batteries, in addition to procedural and visa problems.

Dan Wang, from the Eurasia Group, told AFP that neither party was in a position to make "strategic concessions" on the technology file, at a time when China is seeking to enhance its self-sufficiency and reduce its dependence on American chips.

Xi's previous visits to the United States and Europe witnessed the participation of large delegations of Chinese businessmen. On his visit to the United States in 2015, he was accompanied by 15 businessmen, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, while during a visit in 2012, when he was vice president, he led a delegation that included about 500 business leaders.