US President Donald Trump concluded a two-day visit to Beijing on 15 May 2026 — his first formal trip to China since returning to the White House — meeting with President Xi Jinping in talks that both sides framed as a strategic reset rather than a confrontation. China characterised the outcome as a "constructive strategic stable relationship," signalling Beijing's preference for a managed rivalry framework, while Xi told a state banquet that Trump's "Make America Great Again" agenda and China's national rejuvenation could "complement each other." Concrete results fell well short of expectations: a claimed agricultural sales deal of $30 billion lacked detail, a reported order for 200 Boeing aircraft was far below the anticipated 500, and the tariff freeze agreed at the 2025 Busan APEC summit (the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering) expires in under five months — leaving the underlying trade and technology disputes unresolved. On the sharpest flashpoints, Taiwan and Iran, neither side moved: Xi privately warned that mishandling Taiwan could lead to "conflict or even confrontation," Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed unchanged US policy, and despite Xi suggesting China could help reopen the Strait of Hormuz (the critical Persian Gulf shipping chokepoint), Washington and Beijing continued to work at cross-purposes over Iran sanctions. Analysts broadly viewed the summit as useful for dampening tensions between the world's two largest economies, but insufficient to address the structural rivalries beneath the surface.