Beijing | Chinese President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart Donald Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could trigger “clashes and even conflicts” between the two countries, as the leaders held wide-ranging talks on the Iran war, energy security and trade on Thursday.
After concluding the first round of talks in Beijing, which lasted for around two hours, Trump invited Xi and his wife to the White House on September 24, even as both leaders were in agreement that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be opened to support global energy needs.
China and the US have agreed on a “new vision” for building constructive bilateral ties, Xi said. "I have agreed with President Trump on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability."
Xi said the “new vision” would provide strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond, and should be welcomed by the people of both countries as well as the international community, official media reported.
He, however, stressed that the Taiwan question remained the most important issue in China-US relations.
If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship “will enjoy overall stability”, Xi said. Otherwise, the two countries could face “clashes and even conflicts”, putting bilateral ties in great jeopardy, the leader was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese president urged the US to exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan issue.
Meanwhile, in response to Xi’s comments, Taiwan was quoted by the AP news agency saying: “China is currently the only risk to regional peace and stability.”
China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province that must eventually be reunified with the mainland. It opposes formal diplomatic ties between Taipei and countries that recognise Beijing.
Since establishing diplomatic relations with modern China in 1979, the US has maintained unofficial ties with Taiwan and continued supplying arms to the island while formally acknowledging Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China without explicitly endorsing it.
According to a White House statement, Trump and Xi discussed expanding economic cooperation, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The two sides also discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation, including expanding market access for American businesses in China and increasing Chinese investment in US industries, it said.
Leaders from several major American companies joined a portion of the meeting, according to the White House.
The leaders also highlighted the need to build on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursors into the US, while increasing Chinese purchases of American agricultural products, it said.
The fentanyl issue has remained a major source of friction between Washington and Beijing, with the Trump administration repeatedly pressing China to curb exports of precursor chemicals used by criminal groups to manufacture the synthetic opioid.
Agricultural exports, particularly soybeans and corn, have meanwhile been a key element of past trade deals between the two countries
“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy,” the White House said, adding that Xi “made clear China’s opposition to the militarisation of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use”.
According to the White House statement, Xi also “expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future”.
China has not imported US oil since May 2025 after imposing 20% tariffs during the trade war, with analysts saying any large-scale resumption of purchases would likely require the duties to be lifted. Even at its peak, the US was never a major crude supplier to China, which is the world’s largest oil importer.
“Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” the White House said.
The Strait of Hormuz - which is a major transit route for roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies - and Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain the two main sticking points in the ongoing peace talks between Iran and the US.
Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had raised the Iran issue during talks with Xi but had not sought Beijing’s assistance. “We’re not asking for China’s help. We don’t need their help.”
Rubio said China agreed that Iran should not possess nuclear weapons and had also conveyed its opposition to the militarisation of the Strait of Hormuz and any tolling system for ships using the route.
Shipping movements through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia which started on February 28 with the US and Israel launching joint attack on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump had described the meeting with Xi as “maybe the biggest summit ever”, saying the two countries would have a “fantastic future together”. Calling Xi a “great leader”, Trump said the talks covered the Iran war, trade tensions, tariffs, technology and Taiwan.
Trump, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, is accompanied by several top American business leaders, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Apple chief Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. He is expected to leave on Friday after a final private meeting with Xi.
This is the first visit to China by a US president in nine years. Trump himself was the last US president to visit the country in 2017 during his first term.
The meeting comes amid growing geopolitical tensions over the Iran conflict, renewed tariff disputes, export controls, rare earth supply chains and US arms sales to Taiwan.
Ahead of Trump's visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made his first visit to Beijing after the war and held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
After talks with Araghchi, Wang called on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, even as it appreciated Tehran's commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, a prime demand of Trump to end the war.
Commenting on Wang-Araghchi talks, Rubio had said that he hoped the Chinese would tell Araghchi what he needed to be told.
China's anxieties over the Iran war increased, especially after Trump imposed a blockade of Iranian ports, restricting Iran's oil exports to China.
China imports 10-15% of its crude oil from Iran.
In its editorial on Trump's visit, state-run Global Times said Xi has held multiple telephone conversations and meetings with him, which have helped correct the course of the bilateral relationship and steer it clear of hidden dangers at critical moments. For China-US relations to truly stabilise and improve in the future, the most fundamental step is to fully and faithfully implement the important consensus reached by both leaders, it said.
Beijing | Iran has allowed dozens of Chinese ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as China toughened its stance against the militarisation of the key waterway during talks between US President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.
Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, following the launch of the US-Israeli attacks on February 28.
Since Wednesday night, Iran permitted 30 Chinese ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in compliance with Iranian management protocols, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported, quoting a senior official of the Revolutionary Guard-Navy as saying, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday said that the Strait of Hormuz is open to all commercial vessels, provided they cooperate with Iranian naval forces to pass through the waterway.
The reports of Iran permitting Chinese ships came as Trump and Xi agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy, according to a readout of their Thursday meeting by the White House.
However, Beijing has not made any comment to back the US claims.
Xi also opposed any implementation of tolls on vessels crossing the strait, which has effectively been closed since the start of the Iran war, it said.
Xi expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China's dependence on the strait in future, according to the readout.
Iran has tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and made use of it to build pressure on Trump to end the US war against it. As a result, hundreds of ships have been stranded, causing a major global energy crisis.
Iran has occasionally allowed ships of China, its strategic ally, which has been buying 90 per cent of Iranian oil, disregarding the US sanctions.
However, the situation changed after Trump imposed a blockade of Iranian ports, halting the movement of all ships. This also resulted in anxiety in Beijing, which, despite the massive stockpile of oil reserves, expressed concern over the impact.
Other Gulf states, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with whom Beijing has strong ties, also started expressing concern over the Iranian blockade.
When asked whether Beijing will help Washington reopen the Strait of Hormuz, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that China has "a much bigger interest in reopening the strait than the US does.”
“A reopening of the strait benefits China,” he said, adding that he expects Beijing will “do what they can” and work “behind the scenes”.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington hopes to convince Beijing during the talks between Trump and Xi to play a more active role in resolving the Iran war crisis. Trump, who arrived in Beijing last night, had his first meeting with Xi on Thursday.
Speaking to Fox News aboard Air Force One on the way to Beijing, Rubio said the Iran war was a huge source of instability and threatens to destabilise Asia more than any other part of the world because it's heavily reliant on the straits for energy.
"It's in (China's) interest to resolve this," he said.