During the visit of the Chinese President, Donald Trump presented himself as an extremely friendly host. However, the talks served more to stabilize the relationship between the two states than to bring tangible results.

Rare honor: US President Donald Trump personally picked up his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday when he landed at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. During Xi's three-day state visit, the host did not skimp on symbolism and friendly gestures. Xi, in turn, returned the kindness: Among other things, he announced that he would give the USA two pandas and laughed during a tour of the White House when Trump made a joke about his predecessor Joe Biden.

“Overcoming the Thucydides Trap”

Xi's visit to Washington conveyed that both governments are currently very interested in stabilizing their relationship: "The Thucydides Trap can be overcome," Xi declared at the beginning of his visit, alluding to the Peloponnesian War in the 5th century B.C.E. between the established Greek land power Sparta and the emerging sea power Athens.

During Trump's visit to China in May 2026, Xi had already asked "whether China and the USA can overcome the so-called Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of relations between great powers".

Trump on trip to China: “Strategic stability” or just the calm before the storm?

Against this background, the most important result of the meeting in the USA is that both sides want to extend their trade war ceasefire until January 10, 2027. The provisional agreement that has existed since 2025 to avoid another customs escalation would have expired on November 10th. However, the preliminary agreement does not mean a long-term agreement. Unlike the Busan trade compromise in October 2025, no new mutual easing of tariffs and export restrictions were agreed.

Each other in the hand

Numerous issues are still controversial between the two countries, such as Chinese export restrictions on critical minerals and rare earths, as well as US controls on semiconductors and chips. The friendliness and the extension of the trade ceasefire are likely to be an expression of the fact that both sides have each other in their hands in these areas.

The most important competition between the two countries is currently taking place in the area of ​​the development of artificial intelligence. AI should now become a bilateral dialogue field. But no agreement was concluded here either. Xi simply stated that the US and China have a shared responsibility to ensure that AI remains “under human control” and serves human well-being.

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Top US and Chinese officials had also discussed a possible mechanism by which both sides could inform each other about serious AI incidents - similar to the famous "red telephone" between the nuclear powers USA and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Taiwan and Iran

There was also little of substance in the area of ​​international relations. Xi praised Trump for his stance on the Taiwan issue. He hopes that the US side “adheres to the correct attitude of rejecting Taiwan independence,” said an official statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. However, Trump did not jump on this bandwagon and, according to the Associated Press, made no promises about restrictions or even an end to US arms sales to Taiwan.

Visit to Beijing: A peaceful rapprochement between Taiwan and China?

The Taiwan question is considered the most dangerous strategic conflict between the two states: the USA established official diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China on January 1, 1979 and ended those with Taiwan. Since then, the USA has continued to maintain unofficial relations with the breakaway Chinese island and also supply it with weapons.

The result on the Iran issue was similarly poor. Trump originally wanted to persuade China to use its economic and political influence on the Islamic Republic to persuade it to enter into an agreement in the war with the USA. China is a key trading partner of Iran and by far the most important buyer of Iranian oil. China is not known to have made such a commitment to the United States.

China's calm course in the storm of the Iran war

Strategic conflict remains

During his visit, the USA gave the Chinese head of state and party leader a boost, primarily diplomatically. However, the strategic conflict between the two countries has not diminished at all and still has the potential to develop into war.

The USA continues to classify the People's Republic as a threat in its national security strategy and accuses it of aggressively expanding its influence in the South China Sea and supporting Russia and Iran. In return, the US has forged alliances in recent years against growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific. These include AUKUS with the United Kingdom and Australia and the Quad format with Japan, India and Australia.

The “Thucydides” scenario is not out of the world. The Peloponnesian War lasted from 431 to 404 B.C.E. and ended with the surrender of Athens. At that time, the city-state had to sign a harsh dictated peace and, among other things, accept the dissolution of its maritime alliance and Sparta's foreign policy leadership. Xi Jinping may have a strong interest in avoiding such an outcome for China.

The postXi Jinping visits Trump: USA and China postpone trade conflict until 2027appeared firstperspective.