Donald Trump’s stay in Beijing has been heralded a success by the US President and the Chinese press.
Trump arrived in Beijing earlier this week to discuss billions of dollars worth of trade deals. His visit to the Chinese capital was unlike that of previous trips by US Presidents who tend to discuss meetings with human rights representatives.
Deputy editor of China Daily’s US edition wrote positively of Trump’s trip to Beijing: “Trump has pleasantly surprised many who a year ago were deeply worried about a trade war given his harsh campaign rhetoric,”
“Trump has also surprised many for his relatively good handling of US-China relations, including forging a close working and personal relationship with President Xi Jinping.”
US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said that corporate deals between US and Chinese companies had been signed, totalling $9 billion.
“Addressing the imbalance in China trade has been the main focus of collaborative discussions between Presidents Trump and Xi. Achieving fair and reciprocal treatment for the companies is a shared objective,” he said.
Others were more sceptic of the deals. President of Terex China, Mark Duval, said: “I imagine these are mostly memoranda of understanding being signed today, but [the state visit] does increase the speed and the scale of deals.”
Trump’s trip to Beijing has been deemed a success, with local press celebrating his visit.
“The Great Hall of People’s Golden Hall looked resplendent and magnificent for this great gathering of distinguished guests,” it said in Chinese newspaper the People’s Daily.
“Xi Jinping pointed out that while there is a vast ocean between China and the United States, geographical distance has never prevented these two great nations from coming together … As an old Chinese adage goes: ‘No distance, not even remote mountains and vast oceans can ever prevent people with perseverance from reaching their destination.’