Nearly half of China's oil and gas imports flow through those waters.
In the shadow of Tiananmen Square, two leaders whose nations have long circled each other with suspicion and need sat down once more to negotiate the terms of an uneasy coexistence. Donald Trump's arrival in Beijing for a state visit with Xi Jinping — his second as president — reflects a world in which trade rivalries, technological competition, and a burning crisis in the Persian Gulf have made the relationship between the United States and China too consequential to leave unattended. The October truce in Busan offered a fragile foundation; what is built upon it now may shape the economic and geopolitical order for years to come.
- A decade of trade friction and a still-incomplete commercial truce have brought Trump back to Beijing with a delegation of America's most powerful corporate executives, signaling that economic stakes could not be higher.
- Unresolved fault lines — US chip export controls, closed Chinese markets, and shortfalls in agricultural purchases — threaten to undermine any goodwill generated by the October agreement in Busan.
- Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has injected an urgent energy crisis into the summit, with nearly half of China's oil and gas imports flowing through waters now choked by conflict.
- Washington is pressing Beijing to leverage its influence over Tehran, while China walks a tightrope between its public condemnation of US-Israeli strikes and its deep commercial ties with Gulf states under Iranian pressure.
- Preliminary talks in Seoul between Treasury Secretary Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng were described as 'constructive,' offering a cautious signal that both sides are navigating toward agreement rather than confrontation.
Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on a Thursday morning to the full weight of Chinese state ceremony — national anthems, troops in review, and Xi Jinping waiting at the Great Hall of the People overlooking Tiananmen Square. It was his second visit to China as president, but the world had changed considerably since the first. The trade war of his initial term had given way to something more intricate: a relationship defined by competing interests, overlapping vulnerabilities, and a fragile truce struck last October in Busan, where some tariff pressures were eased and China loosened restrictions on rare earth exports.
Yet the truce left much unfinished. American controls on advanced semiconductors remained. Chinese markets stayed largely closed to US companies. Agricultural purchases had not reached the scale either side envisioned. To address these gaps, Trump brought considerable firepower — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent alongside a constellation of corporate leaders including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and Jensen Huang. They had already held preliminary talks in Seoul with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, which Beijing's state media described as 'constructive.'
Beyond trade, Iran cast a long shadow over the summit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear en route to Beijing that Washington wanted China to play a more active role in de-escalating the Persian Gulf crisis. Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — imposed in retaliation for American and Israeli strikes — was no abstract concern for China: roughly 45 percent of its oil and gas imports pass through those waters. Beijing had publicly condemned the attacks on Iran, yet it also maintained deep ties with the Gulf states now caught in the crossfire.
The Thursday meeting between Trump and Xi was where these threads — trade, technology, energy security, regional stability — would be drawn together. Both men had reasons to find common ground and reasons to hold firm, each representing a nation too entangled with the other to afford open conflict, yet too rivalrous to offer easy concessions.
Donald Trump stepped into the Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning in Beijing, where the full machinery of state ceremony awaited him. Xi Jinping received him with formal honors—the national anthems played, troops stood in review at the entrance to the palace overlooking Tiananmen Square. It was the centerpiece of a state visit that would stretch through Friday, a carefully choreographed return to China nearly a decade after Trump's first presidential term.
The American president had arrived the night before, touching down to a reception led by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Ambassador Xie Feng, and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu. From the airport, Trump was driven to the Four Seasons hotel near the U.S. Embassy, settling in before the formal proceedings began. This was his second visit to China as president, but the landscape had shifted dramatically. The trade war that had defined his first term had given way to a more complicated dance—one that required both sides to manage tensions while pursuing concrete gains.
Last October in Busan, Trump and Xi had struck a commercial truce that eased some of the tariff pressures that had gripped both economies. China loosened restrictions on rare earth exports. But the agreement was incomplete. American controls on advanced semiconductors remained in place. Chinese markets stayed largely closed to American companies. Agricultural purchases from the United States had not materialized at the scale either side wanted. These gaps were precisely what Trump intended to address in this visit, and he had brought the machinery to do it. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and a delegation of corporate executives—Elon Musk from Tesla, Tim Cook from Apple, Jensen Huang from Nvidia, along with representatives from Boeing, BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, Meta, and Goldman Sachs—had already been in Seoul conducting preliminary economic talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Those negotiations, according to China's state news agency Xinhua, had been "constructive." Trump himself had signaled his intent plainly: he would ask Xi to "open" China to American business.
But trade was not the only weight on the agenda. Iran hung over the talks like a storm system moving across the map. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had made clear during the flight to Beijing that Washington wanted China to take a more active role in managing the crisis in the Persian Gulf. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had imposed in retaliation for American and Israeli strikes, was not an abstract geopolitical problem for Beijing—it was an energy crisis. Roughly 45 percent of China's oil and gas imports flow through those waters. Disruption there meant disruption to Chinese factories, Chinese power plants, Chinese growth.
Yet China occupied an awkward middle ground. It had condemned the American and Israeli attacks on Iran repeatedly and publicly. But it also maintained close political, commercial, and energy ties with the Gulf states that had become targets of Iranian retaliation. Beijing had emphasized the need to "respect the sovereignty" of those nations. Rubio and the American delegation were hoping to convince Xi that China's interests lay in using its influence to de-escalate, to push back against Iranian actions that threatened the flow of energy through one of the world's most critical chokepoints.
The Thursday meeting between Trump and Xi would be the moment when these threads—trade, market access, technology, energy security, regional stability—would be drawn together. Both leaders had reasons to find common ground and reasons to hold firm. The state dinner that evening would follow the formal talks, another ritual of diplomacy designed to smooth the way. But the real work would happen in the rooms where the two men sat across from each other, each representing a nation with competing interests and overlapping vulnerabilities, each trying to extract concessions while avoiding a return to the open conflict that had marked Trump's first term.
Notable Quotes
Trump signaled he would ask Xi to 'open' China to American business— Trump, via reporting from Air Force One
Washington hopes to convince Beijing to play a more active role in managing the Iran crisis, particularly the Strait of Hormuz blockade— Secretary of State Marco Rubio
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Trump bring so many tech executives to a state visit? Isn't that unusual?
It's a signal. He's telling Xi: these are the companies that want access to your market, and they're here because I'm serious about opening it. It's negotiation theater, but it's also real—those executives have real stakes in what gets decided.
And the Iran piece—why does that matter to China so much?
Energy. Nearly half of what China imports comes through the Strait of Hormuz. If that waterway stays blocked, Chinese factories slow down, prices spike. It's not ideology for Beijing—it's survival.
But China has said it supports Iran. How does it square that circle?
By saying it respects everyone's sovereignty and wants stability. It's a careful position. China doesn't want to pick a side; it wants the strait open and the oil flowing. That's what Rubio is really asking for—not that China abandon Iran, but that it use whatever leverage it has to keep the blockade from strangling global energy markets.
The October truce seems incomplete. Why didn't they finish it then?
Because the hard parts are still hard. Chips, market access, agricultural deals—these touch the core of what each side wants to protect. October bought time and lowered the temperature. Now Trump is back, trying to convert that breathing room into actual agreements.
What happens if they can't reach new deals?
Then you're back to the tariff spiral, the restrictions, the tit-for-tat that defined the first Trump term. Neither side wants that, but both have red lines. The question is whether those lines can move.