US President Donald Trump praised his Wednesday phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a major trade rival, as “excellent” as they discussed a wide range of issues.
But while President Trump wants to persuade China to further isolate Iran and claimed after the phone call that China promised to increase its soybean purchases from the United States, President Xi appears more interested in warning the United States to stay away from Taiwan.
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In a post on his website Truth Social, President Trump described the meeting as “amazing” and asserted that the two countries have friendly relations. But relations between the two countries have been rocky, with President Trump instigating a bitter trade war with China last year.
“Our relationship with China and my personal relationship with President Xi is very good, and we recognize how important it is to maintain it,” Trump said in a post Wednesday.
Trump said the two leaders had reportedly discussed the US president’s planned visit to Beijing later this year, adding that he was “looking forward to it.”
China had a more subdued response to the call, with state media reporting that the two countries had discussed opportunities for talks next year. There was no mention of President Trump’s visit to Beijing or his purchase of soybeans.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, Xi told Trump that he would “work with you to move the giant ship of China-US relations steadily forward through winds and storms, and to achieve bigger and better things.”
Manoj Kewalramani, an analyst at the India-based Takshashila Institute, told Al Jazeera that the call shows both sides want to continue negotiations as equals, but does not hide their competing interests.
He added: “Implicit within this is an understanding that the relationship is likely to continue to be difficult because of the underlying strategic competition[between the two countries].”
Beijing is scheduled to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November. Meanwhile, the United States will host the G20 summit in December.
The two leaders last spoke by phone in November, when they discussed several topics, including trade, amid the U.S. tariff battle. President Trump’s erratic trade policies have reduced China’s exports to the United States, but China’s exports to other countries also surged last year.
Here’s what we know about the latest phone call and what it means for U.S.-China relations.
What was discussed regarding Taiwan?
Both sides confirmed that several topics were discussed, but Beijing said in a statement that the “most important issue” was Taiwan.
China has long made clear its plans to “unify” the democratic island, which it considers part of its territory, and has not explicitly ruled out using force to achieve that goal.
Historically, the United States has been an ally of Taiwan. Past administrations have maintained a position of “strategic ambiguity,” leaving the possibility of U.S. intervention in Taipei’s defense in the event of a Chinese attack not explicitly ruled out, but left to Beijing’s speculation.
But unlike previous administrations, Trump has not prioritized aid to Taiwan, focusing instead on striking a deal.
The United States’ 2026 National Defense Strategy, released last month, does not mention Taiwan, although an earlier version referred to China’s “provocative” offers in waters near Taiwan. Most recently, China conducted military exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan’s main island in late December last year.
In December, the United States announced a massive arms sale to Taiwan worth more than $10 billion, including intermediate-range missiles, drones, and howitzers, angering China.
Chinese state media said Xi told Trump in a phone call on Wednesday to handle arms sales to Taiwan “with care.”
The Chinese leader also warned that Taiwan is part of “China’s territory” and that China “must protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to Xinhua news agency.
State broadcaster CGTN carried Xi’s remarks, saying, “China will never allow Taiwan to secede.”
Has President Trump convinced China to buy more American products?
China and the United States are the world’s largest economies and important trading partners. However, the United States imports more from China than it exports, and the trade deficit will reach approximately $300 billion by 2024. It’s this trade imbalance that President Trump sought to change when he imposed 145% tariffs on China last year.
The United States’ largest export to China is soybeans. After his phone call with Xi on Wednesday, the US president claimed the two sides discussed Beijing’s purchases of US oil, increased purchases of US soybeans, and deliveries of aircraft engines. However, since the phone call between President Trump and President Xi Jinping, China has not specifically confirmed this.
However, China has shown a willingness to comply with President Trump’s demands to some extent. The country’s state-owned companies, Sinograin and COFCO, have already purchased about 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans since October trade talks with the U.S., paying nearly $100 million more than they would pay for Brazilian soybeans.
“Is there a market logic right now that China will source more U.S. soybeans just as the harvest is coming in in Brazil? No,” Even Rogers Pei, director of Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, told Reuters on Thursday. “But will that smooth the path for a more productive and profitable President Trump’s state visit in April? Maybe.”
In the US-China trade war last year, both sides raised tariffs in a series of announcements. US tariffs on imports from China reached 145%, and China’s retaliatory taxes reached 125%. Following negotiations and a face-to-face meeting between President Trump and President Xi in South Korea in October, the United States lowered its tariffs to 47.5% and China reduced its tariffs to 31.9%.
“The Chinese government has been particularly pleased with its own handling of the trade war with the United States, which Chinese analysts believe has largely worked out in China’s favor,” said Patricia Kim, an analyst at the Brookings Institution.
“From their perspective, President Trump’s clear desire to reach a trade deal with China, combined with the expectation of multiple leadership-level engagements this year, effectively bought China time and strategic space from Washington’s most hawkish policy impulses,” she added.
What other points of contention are there between Trump and Xi?
Iran
President Trump said the two leaders discussed, among other things, “the situation in Iran.”
Tensions between Washington and Tehran are currently rising due to the Iranian government’s horrific crackdown on large-scale anti-government protests in December and early January.
President Trump has also said he is considering military action in Iran, which analysts say could lead to regime change in the country. Since late January, the United States has been building up military forces in the Arabian Sea, raising concerns about a possible Venezuelan-style invasion of the United States, with President Nicolas Maduro being kidnapped and brought to the United States to stand trial on gun and drug charges in December.
The United States, which attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities during the Iran-Israel war last July, has been pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear program and refrain from enriching any uranium, even for civilian purposes.
Iran has repeatedly resisted U.S. orders and insists it has no plans to build military nuclear weapons. U.S. and Iranian officials are scheduled to hold talks on the issue in Oman on Friday.
Last week, the United States announced sanctions against unnamed Iranian officials for their role in the crackdown on protesters. For years, the US government has imposed sanctions on Iran that have significantly weakened Iran’s economy.
President Trump announced in January that he would impose new 25% trade tariffs on countries that trade with Iran in an effort to pressure and isolate Iran.
China is Iran’s largest trading partner and buys most of Iran’s oil. However, it is unclear whether Trump has directly asked Xi to stop buying Iranian oil, in the same way that he has pressured India to stop buying Russian oil. China has not commented on this.
Russia
The two leaders also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine.
China is Russia’s strong ally and largest oil buyer. Both countries are trying to present a strong front, and Beijing has never condemned the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the United States is trying to secure a permanent ceasefire in the four-year war in Ukraine. Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet in Abu Dhabi this week in US-brokered talks.
The Chinese government imports Russian oil, coal, wood, and copper. Amid Western sanctions against Russia, Beijing’s trade with Russia has proven to be an economic lifeline, especially as Washington has successfully used tariffs to dissuade countries such as India from buying Russian oil.
They are founding members of the BRICS economic bloc, which represents the original member states of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Iran also participates, taking part in military drills in South Africa last month along with Russia and China.
Xi also held a separate telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, in which both sides said they would continue to cooperate strategically, but neither went into details. There was no mention of Ukraine.
Beijing has so far shown no signs of reducing trade ties with Russia or Iran, and is unlikely to do so, experts said.
“Chinese officials view economic relations as a matter of sovereignty and principle, and insist they will continue to trade with whomever they choose,” said Kim of the Brookings Institution.
The Trump administration has not clearly linked progress in trade negotiations between the two countries to exerting economic pressure on Moscow and Tehran, making it “easier for Beijing to ignore these demands,” Kim said.
important minerals
Critical minerals have been a recurring source of tension between the two countries. Critical minerals, including rare earth metals such as samarium and promethium, are important in the production of high-tech gadgets and equipment, from smartphones and electric cars to fighter jets.
Currently, China has a monopoly on mining and processing these minerals, but the United States wants to break that control. Last year, China tightened export controls on rare earth metals amid an escalating trade war with the United States. The measure hit U.S. supplies and affected U.S. industries that rely heavily on supplies from China.
Beijing has suspended some of those restrictions following a cease-fire called by President Trump and President Xi Jinping last October, but experts say China’s advantage remains a key lever in doing business with the United States.
On Monday, President Trump announced Project Vault, a $12 billion new U.S. critical mineral reserve to increase U.S. stockpiles. He held a critical minerals “ministerial meeting” in Washington this week with representatives from 50 countries to discuss ways to diversify supply chains and break free of China’s stranglehold.
On Wednesday, during that cabinet meeting, US Vice President J.D. Vance proposed the creation of a major mineral trade bloc that would include South Korea, India, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and others.
