U.S. President Donald Trump, who is on the third day of his visit to China, on the 15th held a tea meeting and luncheon with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Zhongnanhai (中南海), the "heart of power" in China. President Trump said the two countries had reached fantastic trade deals and praised Xi as "a person I respect." Xi said Trump's visit to China was "historic and symbolic," adding that establishing a "constructive and strategically stable relationship" was "a milestone event."
According to China's state-run China Central Television (CCTV) and foreign media on the 15th, the two leaders met at Zhongnanhai at about 10:58 a.m. (local time) that day. Attending the tea meeting from the U.S. side were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, and U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue. From the Chinese side were Cai Qi, Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Wang Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, He Lifeng, vice premier of the State Council, Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the United States.
Zhongnanhai is the "heart of power," housing the offices and residences of top leaders including Xi. Former U.S. President Barack Obama previously visited Zhongnanhai at Xi's invitation, and it did not open during Trump's first visit to China in 2017.
According to Bloomberg News, Xi explained to President Trump that the reason for inviting him to Zhongnanhai was "to reciprocate for inviting me to your Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida during my 2017 visit to the United States." When Trump, while touring the Zhongnanhai garden, marveled that it had "the most beautiful roses I have ever seen," Xi said he would give him rose seeds as a gift.
According to CNN, Trump said on site of Xi, "He is a person I respect very much. We have essentially become friends," adding, "Relations between the two countries are very strong." He also said, "We have signed several fantastic trade agreements that are beneficial to both countries." On Iran, he said the two countries had "very similar positions" in wanting to end the conflict, adding, "We do not want Iran to have nuclear weapons." However, no specific new measures were announced on either issue.
Xi assessed Trump's visit to China as "a historic and symbolic visit," saying, "We have built a new bilateral relationship, namely a 'constructive and strategically stable relationship.' This is a milestone event." He added, "We have achieved many cooperative results."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said the previous day that the summit results produced "a series of new consensuses" between the two countries' leaders. A Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The two leaders formed important consensus on properly handling each other's core concerns and agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional issues."
After finishing the luncheon schedule, President Trump will return to Washington, D.C., that day.