Trump hails Xi talks at grand Beijing banquet attended by leaders, CEOs
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US President Donald Trump hailed “extremely positive” talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, in remarks made at an opulent banquet in Beijing attended by top leaders and American business figures, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook. His trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a host of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions between the two countries. The two leaders rounded off the first full day of a closely watched summit in the Chinese capital with the banquet in a red-carpeted dining room in the lavish Great Hall of the People, abutting Tiananmen Square. “There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump told Xi after a ceremony that featured an honour guard and throngs of children waving flowers and flags at the Great Hall. Trump also said he had invited Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to visit the White House on September 24. Live images streamed before the leaders arrived showed a jovial atmosphere, with several among the top brass of China’s ruling Communist Party seen chatting and smiling with members of Trump’s administration. Servers in traditional red clothing were seen bustling between colourfully adorned tables, where attendees dined on dishes including Beijing roast duck, pork buns and tiramisu. The buoyant mood belied major frictions in the relationship between the world’s top two economies. Washington and Beijing have long clashed on a wide range of issues, including trade, technology and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by China. Ties have been complicated further since the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran, which has relied on China as its top buyer of oil, on February 28. Xi said in his remarks at the banquet that China’s advancement could go “hand-in-hand” with “making America great again” — a direct reference to Trump’s signature political slogan. Trump has not mentioned the sensitive issue of Taiwan since arriving in