To add details and comments from the Chinese Foreign Minister and the Taiwanese Foreign Minister

By Trevor Hannekett, Anthony Slodzukowski and Mei Mei Chow

BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump left China on Friday without major trade gains or concrete help from Beijing to end the 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 scheduled for November.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Xi will visit the United States in the fall at the invitation of Trump.

The summit was full of pomp and circumstance, from a guard of honor parade to a stroll through a secret garden, but behind closed doors, Xi strongly warned Trump that any mishandling of the Taiwan issue, which is China’s biggest concern, could escalate into conflict.

During a meeting with reporters on his way back to the United States, Trump said that Xi had told him of his opposition to Taiwan's independence.

Trump added, "I listened to him. I made no comment... and I made no commitment." He also indicated that he would soon make a decision regarding a pending arms sale to Taiwan, after speaking with "the person who is currently running Taiwan."

It was unclear whether Trump was referring to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

A direct conversation between a sitting US president and the president of Taiwan would be unprecedented since Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. It would likely anger China, which considers the democratically governed island part of its territory.

These were Trump's first off-the-cuff remarks after two days in Beijing, during which his statements were noticeably less frequent than usual, and his comments focused mainly on praising Xi's hospitality and stature.

"It was a great visit," Trump told Xi at their recent meeting at the Zhongnanhai compound. "I think a lot of good came of it."

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.

Xi promoted a new term to describe the relationship between the two countries: "constructive strategic stability," a radical shift from the term "strategic competition" used by former US President Joe Biden, which was not well received by Beijing.

"Until now, China has not proposed an alternative, but now it has, and if the US side agrees, that is progress," said Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

No concrete assistance regarding Iran

The most prominent American summary of Thursday's talks highlighted what the White House described as the two leaders' shared desire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and Xi's interest in buying American oil to reduce its dependence on the Middle East.

But ahead of the two leaders meeting for tea on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a clear statement expressing its frustration with the war.

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 discussed the Iranian issue with Xi and that they found their views to be "very similar." Xi did not comment on this. During the flight home, Trump added that he had not "asked for any favors" regarding Iran.

However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent urged Beijing to use its influence with Tehran to reach an agreement. But analysts doubted Xi's willingness to exert significant pressure on Tehran or end support for its military, given Iran's importance to Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the United States.

“What’s striking is the lack of any 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

In another sign of the summit's weak results, Trump's statement made no mention of the sweeping structural reforms that previous presidents had pressed Xi on.

Unlike his previous trip in 2017, the statement clarified that Trump did not discuss with Xi “structural reforms,” “global economic governance,” or the “international trading system.”

Even the deal touted as the single most important achievement of the meetings failed to deliver the desired results. Boeing's stock fell by four percent after Trump announced on Thursday that China would purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, a significantly lower number than the approximately 500 reported by Reuters sources.

He later added that the order could reach 750 aircraft "if they do a good job on the 200 aircraft."

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.

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 also left without reaching a formal solution to the rare earth supply problem that has strained relations since China imposed export restrictions on these vital minerals in response to tariffs imposed by Trump in April 2025.

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.

When Trump was asked whether the two sides had extended the truce beyond the end of this year, he said that he and Xi "did not discuss tariffs."

Kim, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, said such an extension would be the "basic criterion" for the summit's success.

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

The issue of Taiwan, which is only 80 kilometers from the Chinese coast, has long been a source of tension in US-China relations, 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 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.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-long stated that Taipei will continue to strengthen its ties with the United States and like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region, adding that China is escalating the "risks" in the region.