What was billed as a showdown between the leaders of the United States and China over trade and the DPRK failed to truly materialize. US President Donald Trump previously predicted a "very difficult" meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But, after their first face-to-face meeting at the Mar-a-Lago resort, he trumpeted that they had developed an "outstanding" relationship.
It was an opportunity for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies to get to know each other better and build initial trust, although little was produced in the way of tangible outcomes.
Time was too short it seems to announce any major trade or investment deal. Experts are now trying to make sense of the Xi-Trump summit, and ponder the next steps in the relationship between the two superpowers.
At the forum of a leading Chinese global think tank in Beijing on Sunday, participants were optimistic. Wang Huiyao, the President of the Center for China and Globalization, said that infrastructure and energy cooperation are two of the concrete things that President Xi mentioned, which send a very good signal around the world.
During the talks, Trump also pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to help reduce the US trade deficit with China, which reached 347 billion US dollars last year. However, Wang Yiwei, professor at the School of International Studies in Renmin University of China, interpreted it as a result of global division for labor, not a political intention.
The United States mainly imports consumer electronics, clothing and machinery from China. A lot of the imports are from US manufacturers that send raw materials to China for low-cost assembly.
Trump had pledged to label China a currency manipulator on the first day of his administration, but has refrained to do so so far. Yet, he has been loud and clear on accusing China of stealing US manufacturing jobs.
The two leaders agreed to a "100-day plan" to discuss trade, aimed at boosting US exports and reducing China’s trade surplus with the US, but few details have emerged so far.
