A display exhibits information footage of the bilateral assembly between Chinese language President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea’s Busan, at a restaurant in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China October 30, 2025.
Tingshu Wang | Reuters
Many individuals in China cheered the assembly Thursday between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, after months of escalating bilateral tensions.
Each time the 2 leaders meet, it helps ease tensions and creates a “constructive ambiance,” Alex Hongcai Xu, chair of Beijing Honglve Consulting, mentioned in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. “This ambiance is helpful for negotiations.”
“Both sides decreasing tariffs to under 10% would profit capital flows and cooperation,” Xu mentioned. He famous that China can probably purchase extra U.S. soybeans and U.S.-made Boeing airplanes.
Trump mentioned Thursday after the assembly that the U.S. would halve a 20% fentanyl-related tariff on China, bringing the whole obligation on Chinese language items to 47%. That marked a pointy reversal from his earlier menace to impose an extra 100% tariffs on China beginning Saturday.
However Trump gave few particulars on whether or not the U.S. would encourage extra Chinese language funding, saying solely that “they’ve investments [in the U.S.] and they’ll make investments.”
Xu mentioned he hoped Washington would permit extra Chinese language firms to speculate regionally, which he mentioned would create jobs within the U.S. and increase home manufacturing whereas lowering Chinese language exports.
Chinese language companies, for his or her half, have been searching for alternatives overseas because the home economic system slows.
“If the U.S. coverage may be extra sure, or provide the prospect of lowered tariffs, then at the very least Chinese language investments in different nations can improve,” mentioned Luke Li, who works in energy-related manufacturing and commerce in Beijing, in accordance with a CNBC translation of his remarks in Chinese language.
“So long as they meet, there shall be progress,” Li mentioned, noting that “we’re most targeted on U.S. tariffs on China, whether or not this shall be adjusted.”
As Xi and Trump met in South Korea Thursday morning native time, “China-U.S. leaders’ Busan Summit” was the highest trending hashtag on Weibo, a social media platform just like X.
“Curiosity Charge Lower” was the second most-popular hashtag, whereas the fourth-ranked trending matter additionally centered on the Trump-Xi assembly.
Many of the posts, nevertheless, have been by Chinese language information retailers. Consumer feedback have been transient, comparable to “lengthy reside China-U.S. friendship” and “China-U.S. mutual success,” in accordance with a CNBC translation. It was unclear whether or not every remark represented a separate consumer.
On the fashionable Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, app, one of many few posts on the summit was by economist and frequent social media commentator Music Qinghui, who wrote in Chinese language: “Sit up for the early arrival of the China-U.S. honeymoon interval.”
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Beijing restricts entry to X and plenty of different U.S. social media platforms, whereas sustaining tight management over home information retailers.
Whereas Chinese language state media initially targeted on Beijing’s newest area exploration plans and downplayed the Trump-Xi assembly — opting to focus on Xi’s attendance on the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation Financial Leaders’ assembly as a substitute — official protection ramped up after the talks started. The Chinese language overseas ministry did not affirm the Trump-Xi assembly till Wednesday afternoon.
State broadcaster CCTV, which spent a lot of Thursday morning masking China’s newest Shenzhou-21 area mission, started sending common updates about the assembly solely after the 2 leaders met.
China’s official readout of Xi’s opening remarks mentioned Beijing was able to work with Washington, quoting Xi as saying that “China’s growth and revitalization goes hand in hand with President Trump’s imaginative and prescient to ‘Make America Nice Once more.'”
“Trump [has been] overly assured. He would not hear,” Xu mentioned, referring to the U.S. president’s concentrate on ramping up tariffs.
“If the U.S. and China are in a multitude, can the U.S. develop into nice once more?” he mentioned. “No method.”