U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday (May 14) that his country’s relationship with China is going to be “better than ever before”, as he sat down for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing.

Trump arrived in the Chinese capital on Wednesday (May 13) for a three-day visit. This is his first trip to China since 2017.

The Xi-Trump summit aims to strike deals on farm goods and aeroplanes, and maintain a fragile trade war truce between the world's top two economies.

The trip was originally planned for late March but was delayed due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: BEIJING, CHINA (MAY 14, 2026) (U.S. NETWORK POOL – No use USA)

1. EXTERIOR OF THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE

2. U.S. DELEGATION ENTERING MEETING ROOM

3. U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SITTING WITH U.S. DELEGATION

4. CHINESE DELEGATION SITTING ON OTHER SIDE OF TABLE

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Well President Xi, I want to thank you very much. First of all, that was an honour, like few have ever seen before. And I was particularly impressed by those children. They were happy, they were beautiful. The military, it’s obvious, it couldn’t be better, but those children were amazing, and they represent so much. I know they represent so much to you.”

6. U.S. DEFENCE SECRETARY, PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, TRUMP AND OTHER DELEGATES LISTENING DURING MEETING

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“You and I have known each other now for a long time. In fact, the longest relationship of our two countries that any president, and president, has had. And it’s, for me, an honour. We’ve had a fantastic relationship, we’ve got along. When there were difficulties, we would work it out. I would call you, and you would call me, whenever we had problems. People don’t know, whenever we had a problem, we worked it out very quickly. And we are going to have a fantastic future together.”

8. CHINESE PRESIDENT, XI JINPING, SPEAKING WHILE SEATED AMONG CHINESE DELEGATION

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"[I have] such respect for China, the job you've done, and you're a great leader. I say it to everybody, you're a great leader. Sometimes people don't like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it's true. I always say the truth. And I just want to say, on behalf of all of the great delegation that we have, we have the greatest businessmen, the biggest, and I guess the best in the world. We have amazing people, and they're all with me. They -- every single one of them, we asked the top 30 in the world, every single one of them said yes. And I didn't want the second or the third in the company. I wanted only the top. And they're here today to pay respects to you and to China. And they look forward to trade and doing business. And it's going to be totally reciprocal on our behalf."

10. MEETING IN PROGRESS

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“So I really look very much forward to our discussion, it’s a big discussion. There are those who’d say this is maybe the biggest summit, ever, they can never remember anything like it. I can in the United States it’s, people aren’t talking about anything else. But it’s an hour to be with you, it’s an honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before. Thank you very much, thank you.”

12. TRUMP SPEAKING TO RUBIO

13. GUARDS WALKING OUTSIDE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE