Trump Concludes Beijing Trip; Reuters Says US-China Relations Return to a Stable Stalemate
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- 📰 Published: May 17, 2026 at 19:50
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(Washington/Beijing, 16th, Reuters) After U.S. President Trump concluded his trip to Beijing, Reuters analyzed that the summit's results may be limited. After last year's 145% high tariffs on China and intense trade conflicts, US-China relations have now returned to the familiar economic and strategic stalemate of the past.
Trump arrived in Beijing on the evening of the 13th and had several interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the following day and a half. These included a bilateral meeting lasting about 2 hours and 15 minutes on the morning of the 14th, a tour of Beijing's historic Temple of Heaven Park on the afternoon of the 14th, a state banquet hosted by the Chinese side on the evening of the 14th, and a small-group meeting at Zhongnanhai on the morning of the 15th.
Reuters pointed out that the commercial achievements of this summit fell far short of Trump's fruitful 2017 visit to China, during which accompanying U.S. companies signed agreements and memorandums of understanding worth a total of $250 billion.
This year's summit saw no breakthrough regarding the sale of advanced H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from U.S. tech giant Nvidia to China.
Although Trump claimed that Boeing had finalized a procurement agreement for 200 aircraft with China, this number was far below the expected 500 and also lower than the 300 aircraft Beijing agreed to purchase during Trump's 2017 visit.
Trump led a delegation of U.S. corporate giants, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, but apart from enjoying a grand banquet, most gained little.
The summit also failed to secure a public commitment from China to help the U.S. end the war in Iran.
In contrast, the U.S. side did not publicly mention several long-standing demands, such as asking China to address its overcapacity and its practice of dumping low-priced goods abroad, reflecting a shift in the U.S. tone.
Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, said that considering the Trump administration's toned-down arrogance on trade issues since early last year, China has gained the upper hand. "A year ago, tariffs were at 145%, and the U.S. was genuinely trying to force fundamental changes in China and the world. Compared to then, we have experienced a counter-revolution and returned to a state of stability," Kennedy said.
Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), believes the summit presented a facade of stability, but the stalemate remains intact, producing 'limited, marketable, and managed results.' 'This is probably all that the current US-China relationship can bear,' he said.
According to Reuters' analysis, the most worrying parts of the bilateral relationship from Washington's perspective remain largely unresolved after this meeting, including what Washington sees as Beijing's mercantilist trade policies and China's efforts to expand its military influence in the Indo-Pacific.
For Xi Jinping, the status quo offers some breathing room and returns challenges to a more predictable state. The 'constructive strategic stability' Xi proposed as a new framework for the relationship seems to describe this change.
China appears to be satisfied with this fragile truce, as it currently deals with a weak domestic economy while seeking to strengthen its own technology to change the game in the long-term competition with the United States.
Cui Shoujun, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said the summit shows that Washington and Beijing are no longer pursuing a return to the golden era of cooperation but are acknowledging the long-term existence of competition and differences.
Trump arrived in Beijing on the evening of the 13th and had several interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the following day and a half. These included a bilateral meeting lasting about 2 hours and 15 minutes on the morning of the 14th, a tour of Beijing's historic Temple of Heaven Park on the afternoon of the 14th, a state banquet hosted by the Chinese side on the evening of the 14th, and a small-group meeting at Zhongnanhai on the morning of the 15th.
Reuters pointed out that the commercial achievements of this summit fell far short of Trump's fruitful 2017 visit to China, during which accompanying U.S. companies signed agreements and memorandums of understanding worth a total of $250 billion.
This year's summit saw no breakthrough regarding the sale of advanced H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from U.S. tech giant Nvidia to China.
Although Trump claimed that Boeing had finalized a procurement agreement for 200 aircraft with China, this number was far below the expected 500 and also lower than the 300 aircraft Beijing agreed to purchase during Trump's 2017 visit.
Trump led a delegation of U.S. corporate giants, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, but apart from enjoying a grand banquet, most gained little.
The summit also failed to secure a public commitment from China to help the U.S. end the war in Iran.
In contrast, the U.S. side did not publicly mention several long-standing demands, such as asking China to address its overcapacity and its practice of dumping low-priced goods abroad, reflecting a shift in the U.S. tone.
Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, said that considering the Trump administration's toned-down arrogance on trade issues since early last year, China has gained the upper hand. "A year ago, tariffs were at 145%, and the U.S. was genuinely trying to force fundamental changes in China and the world. Compared to then, we have experienced a counter-revolution and returned to a state of stability," Kennedy said.
Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), believes the summit presented a facade of stability, but the stalemate remains intact, producing 'limited, marketable, and managed results.' 'This is probably all that the current US-China relationship can bear,' he said.
According to Reuters' analysis, the most worrying parts of the bilateral relationship from Washington's perspective remain largely unresolved after this meeting, including what Washington sees as Beijing's mercantilist trade policies and China's efforts to expand its military influence in the Indo-Pacific.
For Xi Jinping, the status quo offers some breathing room and returns challenges to a more predictable state. The 'constructive strategic stability' Xi proposed as a new framework for the relationship seems to describe this change.
China appears to be satisfied with this fragile truce, as it currently deals with a weak domestic economy while seeking to strengthen its own technology to change the game in the long-term competition with the United States.
Cui Shoujun, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said the summit shows that Washington and Beijing are no longer pursuing a return to the golden era of cooperation but are acknowledging the long-term existence of competition and differences.