'He's tough negotiator, that's not good': Trump meets China's Xi Jinping amid trade tensions

Talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off in South Korea's Busan on Thursday (Oct 30). This is the first time the two leaders are meeting after they met at the G-20 Summit in Osaka Japan, in 2019. The meeting is also a first after Trump began his second term and imposed tariffs on every country in the world.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Trump called Jinping a “tough negotiator” and quipped ‘that’s not good.' The Chinese president highlighted that the US and China do not always “see eye to eye”, but they should strive to be “partners and friends.” Xi also congratulated Trump on Gaza ceasefire, while Trump dodged a question about his Truth Social post on nuclear testing, even as he mentioned China's nuclear capabilities in that post. Trump said that he expected a "very successful meeting" as Xi told Trump it was "great to see" him.

“It's a great honor... I think we're going to have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time — and it's an honor to have you with us,” Trump said. "China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world," Xi said. Further he said that negotiators confirmed that a "framework" agreement had been established ahead of the meeting.

As the meeting ended, Trump headed straight to Air Force One in Busan, South Korea and Xi was seen boarding his limousine outside the closed-door meeting venue. Sitting opposite each other each leader was flanked by senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury chief Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Xi's team, which arrived from Beijing shortly before -- the US side was already in South Korea -- included Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Vice Premier He Lifeng.