The White House has announced that China will purchase “at least” $17 billion worth of agricultural goods from the United States annually following the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
According to a fact sheet released on Sunday, China will make these purchases through 2028, with the 2026 target applied proportionally for the remainder of the year.
The White House said the deal is in addition to China’s commitment to buy at least 87 million metric tons of US soybeans, made at the Trump-Xi summit in South Korea in October.
China will also restore market access for US beef by renewing expired listings of over 400 production facilities and resume imports of poultry from states deemed free of avian influenza by the US Department of Agriculture, the fact sheet stated.
Trump and Xi also agreed to establish two new bodies – the US-China Board of Trade and the US-China Board of Investment – to manage trade and investment between the sides, the White House said.
China has yet to confirm or comment on the White House’s announcement. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House update provides further clarity on the outcome of the two-day summit, which was heavy on pageantry and camaraderie but light on concrete agreements.
During their talks in Beijing, Trump and Xi sought greater alignment on economic issues and trade, while largely skirting sensitive issues such as Taiwan and the US-Israel war on Iran.
In a readout after the summit, the White House said the two sides discussed ways to “enhance economic cooperation” and agreed on the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Beijing did not explicitly state that Iran should not have nuclear weapons but stressed the importance of reaching “a settlement on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues that accommodates the concerns of all parties.”
Neither White House statement mentioned Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing views as part of its territory. The omission came after Xi warned of “clashes and even conflicts” between the superpowers if the issue is not “handled properly.”
After nearly a decade of tit-for-tat economic salvoes between Washington and Beijing, US-China trade has dropped sharply from its peak. Bilateral trade in goods last year was about $415 billion, down from over $690 billion in 2022.
Source: www.aljazeera.com