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By Hudson Lockett

HONG KONG, May 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The latest Sino-American summit has become a matter of he said, Xi said. Exiting the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters his visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping had been “incredible”. Xi, for his part, told Trump the two-day summit was a “historic and landmark occasion”. But that appears to be roughly the limit of what the pair could publicly agree on. It's not much of a reset for the world’s weightiest geopolitical relationship.

That is not to say nothing was accomplished: the keystone discussions between leaders went off without any visible hitch, and the confab itself lays groundwork for more regular contact—a welcome alternative to the erratic back and forth of last year, which led to trade war escalation. Further details may also yet emerge in the coming hours and days about what more has really been agreed upon, if anything.

But the official readouts from both camps so far tell another story. The White House statement flags discussion of improving American companies’ market access in China and boosting Chinese investment in the U.S., the two leaders' agreement on the need to halt illicit flows of fentanyl precursors, and asserts that “both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.” The release from China’s foreign ministry only mentions discussing “the Middle East situation” and instead foregrounds Xi raising Taiwan as “the most important issue” in bilateral relations. It also notes the two leaders agreed to build “a constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability”. The biggest overlap between official statements is a vague commitment to “economic cooperation”.

If those accounts sound like two different meetings about mostly unrelated issues, there may be some truth to that. Per one unnamed White House official cited by The Washington Post, on day one Trump didn’t respond to Xi’s comments on Taiwan and moved on to the next topic without acknowledging them. Nor have there been clear signals from China that it intends to materially boost agricultural or energy imports from the U.S. Even the anticipated renewal of export clearance for hundreds of American beef producers – briefly granted then reversed by China customs on Thursday – does not guarantee a surge in demand from Chinese buyers.

For each leader's domestic audience, though, it's very on message. Xi got to act tough with Trump on Taiwan without seriously escalating China’s demands regarding the self-ruled island, which it claims as its own territory. Trump, meanwhile, told reporters on Friday that “we’ve made some fantastic trade deals” and said he'd invited Xi to visit the U.S. in September for another prestige-enhancing summit right before midterm elections.

But there was no sign of official progress on the potential “Board of Trade” mechanism which Reuters reported this week could help reduce tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods. And the only business deal made public so far is China’s apparent agreement to buy 200 jets from Boeing BA.N. That was announced by Trump in comments to Fox News and sent shares down 4% since it fell short of hopes for a larger order Reuters had reported was under discussion. Hong Kong and mainland Chinese benchmark stock indices also closed slightly down as Trump's visit came to an end.

The upshot for the Sino-American relationship, then, is much as it was before the summit: steady as she goes, for now, and perhaps with somewhat less volatility in the near term. But if this is the best that both sides can get from a state visit, there’s little reason to expect relations will seriously improve any time soon.

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CONTEXT NEWS

U.S. President Donald Trump departed China on May 15 following the conclusion of a two-day summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.