Highlights from Trump-Xi summit in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for a lavish summit that produced no major breakthroughs on contentious issues including artificial intelligence, trade, Taiwan and the war in Iran.

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for a lavish summit that produced no major breakthroughs on contentious issues including artificial intelligence, trade, Taiwan and the war in Iran.

The talks, the second meeting between the two leaders this year, were accompanied by elaborate diplomatic ceremony as Washington and Beijing sought to maintain a fragile trade truce. Here are the main points of the summit.

Trade truce extended

Trump and Xi agreed to extend a pause in their trade war until January 10, but other major economic issues remained unresolved.

Danny Russel, a former U.S. diplomat who served in the Obama administration, criticized the emphasis on ceremony over substantive talks.

“Pageantry and protocol don’t add up to progress. Pandas are cute, but what America needs are rare earths,” Russel said.

“What we’re seeing isn’t diplomacy so much as ‘diplotainment,’ which won’t do much to solve the serious problems in the U.S.-China relationship.”

Senate Democrats also criticized the summit, saying it prioritized “pageantry over purpose” and calling for progress on trade, critical minerals, AI and security issues.

Taiwan remains a sticking point

China has long pressed Washington to oppose Taiwan independence and reduce U.S. military support for the island. Xi reiterated that position during the summit, while Democrats urged Trump to deliver a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan that Congress has approved.

The Taiwan issue remains a major point of disagreement between Washington and Beijing, with Trump having previously treated the arms package as a potential negotiating tool.

Iran

The summit came as the United States and Israel remained involved in the conflict with Iran and energy prices rose.

Iran was among the issues expected to feature in the Trump-Xi discussions, with Washington seeking to understand how much influence Beijing would exert over Tehran.

AI

Artificial intelligence was another major topic, although the summit produced no clear new framework for managing AI development.

Before the summit, Trump said in a Truth Social post that “super intelligence” would be a major topic of discussion.

Trump also said he did not want to impose new restrictions on AI development, while China has advocated discussions on AI safety and governance.

Tech leaders attend state dinner

The black-tie state dinner featured technology and business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

The gathering highlighted the importance of technology and artificial intelligence to the U.S.-China relationship, even as Washington’s export controls on advanced technology remain a source of tension.