Author, Laura Bicker
Role, BBC China Correspondent
Posted: 8 minutes ago
Reading time: 2 minutes
The summit between Xi Jinping and Trump has a very clear goal.
China believes that the United States is trying to contain China's rise as a superpower and therefore hopes that Washington will not hinder China, especially on trade, technology and Taiwan issues.
But despite Trump's red carpet welcome to Xi Jinping during the visit, the Chinese leader didn't get everything he wanted.
China and the United States had previously suspended tariffs on each other to avoid further escalation of the trade war. This time the two sides only agreed to extend the trade truce for a few months, from November to January next year.
Beijing had hoped for an extension of at least a year, allowing Xi Jinping to maintain the situation for the remainder of Trump's term.
This means that major disputes such as tariffs, China’s dominance of rare earth supplies, and China’s access to advanced American chips have only been postponed again to the next round of negotiations.
For Xi Jinping, an uncomfortable reality is that China’s domestic economy is facing difficulties.
China is exporting record amounts of goods around the world, but domestic consumers remain reluctant to spend more. Youth unemployment remains high, and housing prices in China, where about 80% of people own their own homes, have fallen sharply.
Trade is helping to support economic growth, so China's access to overseas markets is more important than ever. Xi Jinping needs to protect China's exports from being hit hard again by the high tariffs imposed by the United States last year.
On the Taiwan issue, Xi Jinping once again made it clear that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are China’s red line.
Under U.S. law, the United States is obligated to provide the self-governed island with the means it needs to defend itself.
In May this year, Xi Jinping warned Trump that if the Taiwan issue is not handled properly, the two countries will "collide or even conflict."
Trump later delayed approval of a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, describing it as a "very good bargaining chip" in negotiations with Beijing.
Xi Jinping is likely to exploit this opening in the talks and is likely to argue that limiting support for Taiwan would reduce the risk of conflict.
He expressed again on Thursday that he hopes the United States will stick to its "correct stance" against "Taiwan independence."
However, Trump is facing pressure from Democrats and Republicans to continue supporting Taiwan, and he has yet to publicly respond to Xi Jinping's words.
The two leaders at least discussed artificial intelligence, but it remains unclear whether they have agreed on any safeguards.
The outside world has been paying attention to whether the two will make any specific decisions on artificial intelligence, such as agreeing to hold an artificial intelligence summit.
Previously, Dario Amodei, CEO of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, published an article calling for slowing down the development of artificial intelligence to improve safety. One of the company's top security researchers has also warned that the chance of AI causing human extinction is "higher than 10%."
However, apart from Xi Jinping talking about the importance of ensuring that artificial intelligence is "always under human control," the two sides did not announce much else.
Trump recently dismissed concerns that artificial intelligence could lead to human extinction as a "hoax."
Of course, don’t forget the giant pandas. China first announced in April that it was sending Pingping and Fushuang to Atlanta, and Xi Jinping now said they would arrive in a few days, marking the resumption of China's "panda diplomacy."
More announcements are likely to come as the pair prepare for tea and a visit to the National Archives on Friday.
But perhaps one of the biggest takeaways for Beijing from the summit, at least so far, is the spectacle and perception.
The luxurious reception, Trump's personal greeting at the airport, and the state banquet featuring sesame-crusted seabass and braised cabbage were all welcomed by many Chinese people. This will help further solidify Xi Jinping’s domestic image as an equal to Trump.
Memes comparing the two leaders have been widely circulated on Chinese social media. One of the popular images showed Trump frowning while Xi Jinping remained calm as bombers flew overhead.
Xi Jinping appears to have found a way to deal with one of the world's most unpredictable leaders.
