To add details and comments

By Trevor Hannekett, Anthony Slodkowski, and Mai Mai Chu

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump left China on Friday without major trade breakthroughs or concrete help from Beijing to end his trade war with Iran, despite a two-day visit dominated by praise for his host, President Xi Jinping.

Trump's visit to China, the United States' main strategic and economic rival, was the first by a US president since his previous visit in 2017, and was aimed at achieving tangible results to boost his approval ratings ahead of the midterm congressional elections.

The summit was full of pomp and ceremony, from soldiers marching in military formation to strolling through a secret garden, but behind closed doors, Xi issued a stern warning to Trump that any mishandling of the Taiwan issue, which is China’s biggest concern, could escalate into conflict.

Trump declined to comment on the matter and remained unusually reserved throughout the visit, while his off-the-cuff remarks focused mainly on praising Xi's position and stature.

"It was a great visit," Trump told Xi at their final meeting in the Zhongnanhai complex, a former imperial garden that houses the offices of Chinese leaders. "I think a lot of good came of it." They then shared a lunch of lobster meatballs and kung pao oysters.

While Trump sought immediate business gains, such as a deal to sell Boeing aircraft that did not impress investors, Xi spoke of a long-term reset and an agreement to maintain stable trade relations with Washington, highlighting their differing priorities.

No concrete assistance regarding Iran

Ahead of a meeting between the two leaders for tea on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a frank statement expressing its disappointment over the US and Israeli war on Iran.

The ministry said, "This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue," adding that China supports efforts to reach an agreement to end a war that has severely affected energy supplies and the global economy.

In Zhongnanhai, Trump stated that he had discussed Iran with Xi and that they found their views to be "very similar ." However, Xi did not comment on this.

Trump was expected to urge China to use its influence to persuade Iran to reach an agreement with Washington, but analysts doubted Xi's willingness to put significant pressure on Tehran or end support for its military, given Iran's importance to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the United States.

A U.S. summary of the talks held on Thursday highlighted what the White House described as the two leaders' shared desire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as well as Xi's apparent interest in buying U.S. oil to reduce China's dependence on Middle Eastern supplies.

Typically, one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed through the strait.

“What’s striking is the lack of a Chinese commitment to do anything specific with regard to Iran,” said Patricia Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Boeing shares fall due to disappointing deal

US officials said the two sides also agreed on deals to sell agricultural products, with progress being made in establishing mechanisms to manage trade in the future, and the two sides are expected to identify $30 billion worth of regular goods.

However, few details were available about the deals, and there were no signs of progress on the sale of Nvidia's advanced H200 AI chips to China, despite CEO Jensen Huang joining the visit at the last minute.

Trump told Fox News that China had agreed to order 200 Boeing aircraft, its first purchase of American-made commercial planes in nearly 10 years, but that number was far less than the roughly 500 planes the market had anticipated. Boeing shares fell more than 4 percent.

Chinese stocks fell when investors realized the summit had yielded little in the way of results.

Trump also left without reaching a formal solution to the rare earth supply issue that has strained relations since China imposed export restrictions on these vital minerals in retaliation for tariffs imposed by Trump in April 2025. During the two-day summit coverage, Chinese state media did not mention the issue even once.

The two leaders struck a fragile trade truce in October , under which Washington would reduce tariffs in exchange for China continuing to supply rare earth minerals, but Beijing’s restrictions have caused shortages of the minerals for U.S. chipmakers and airlines.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who accompanied Trump, told Bloomberg Television on Friday that it had not yet been decided whether the truce would be extended beyond its expiration later this year.

* Stern warning regarding Taiwan

Xi’s remarks to Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to conflict represent a sharp and perhaps unprecedented warning during an otherwise cordial and relaxed summit.

The issue of Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing considers its own and which lies only 80 kilometers from the Chinese coast, has long strained relations between the United States and China, as Beijing refuses to rule out the use of force to control the island, while Washington is legally obligated to provide Taipei with the means necessary to defend itself.

"U.S. policy on the Taiwan issue has not changed to this day," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is accompanying Trump, told NBC News.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-long thanked the United States on Friday for its repeated expressions of support.

Rubio said Trump raised with Xi the case of Hong Kong's most prominent critic, media mogul Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison in the Asian financial hub's biggest national security case, which Beijing describes as an internal matter.

Despite the lack of major achievements, both sides praised the strengthening of relations, which Xi described as the most important in the world.

He said, "We have to make it work and never ruin it."