Chinese President Xi Jinping is now back in Beijing, following his three-day state visit to the U.S. During his time in Washington, Xi got a state dinner and a tour of the National Archives, where his host, U.S. President Donald Trump, showed him the U.S. Constitution and the first treaty between the U.S. and Qing-dynasty China.
The record of actual achievements from the summit was small. Both sides said that Xi and Trump agreed to build a “constructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of respect, fairness, and reciprocity,” and there were some small agreements involving trade and AI.
Markets had diverging reactions to the summit on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 dropped 2.2%.
Yet given how far apart the U.S. and China are on a range of important issues—trade, export controls, the status of Taiwan, and today’s conflicts in Ukraine and Iran—it’s not surprising that few outside observers expected much to emerge from Xi’s trip to Washington.
