U.S. President Donald Trump, left, poses for a picture with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, Friday. AP-Yonhap
BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump said he made "fantastic trade deals" with Xi Jinping, as the pair met on Friday at final meetings of a superpower summit that according to the U.S. leader has also reaped a Chinese offer to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had arrived in Beijing seeking to seal deals in sectors including agriculture, aviation and artificial intelligence, as well as to contain differences between the two sides in a number of tense geostrategic areas — not least the Middle East war.
Trump's overtures to Xi, whom he described as a "great leader" and "friend", have so far been met with more muted tones by the Chinese leader.
But the U.S. leader said "a lot of good" has come out of the visit.
"We've made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries," he said, as Xi accompanied him through the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing's Forbidden City.
In an interview with Fox News after the first day of the summit wrapped, Trump said the talks in Beijing had gone well and that Xi had agreed to several US wishlist points.
On the topic of the war in Iran, the U.S. president said Xi had effectively assured his counterpart that China was not preparing to militarily aid Tehran, which has essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz.
"He said he's not going to give military equipment... he said that strongly," Trump told Fox.
"He'd like to see the Hormuz Strait open, and said 'if I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help,'" Trump added.
Source: Korea Times News
