Donald Trump left Beijing on Thursday declaring success after two days of talks with Xi Jinping, but financial analysts warn that what the two leaders chose not to address carries far more weight for global markets than anything they announced.
Nigel Green, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of deVere Group, said the meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies delivered reassuring optics while leaving the structural disputes that define their economic relationship entirely untouched.
Trump claimed China had agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft alongside significant increases in agricultural and energy imports. Beijing has since released no formal agreement, no timetable, and no financial framework to support those commitments.
The talks produced no visible progress on tariffs, semiconductor export controls, rare earth minerals, or industrial subsidies. Those issues, analysts say, remain the real architecture of the dispute between Washington and Beijing.
China controls roughly 70% of global rare earth production and close to 90% of processing capacity. Those materials underpin semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs), military systems, and advanced technology infrastructure. Despite sustained pressure from US industry groups over supply chain exposure, the Beijing summit yielded no framework on future access or export guarantees.
The artificial intelligence (AI) chip dispute also went unresolved. Washington continues to restrict exports of advanced AI chips to China, while Beijing accelerates domestic alternatives to reduce its dependence on American technology. Green said the omission carries enormous consequences for investors, given how central AI infrastructure has become to the direction of the global economy.
Taiwan remained visibly unresolved beneath the summit’s diplomatic surface. Xi reportedly reaffirmed Beijing’s hardline position during private sessions while Trump avoided public escalation. Markets interpreted the restraint as stability, but analysts caution that the underlying tension remains acute and capable of moving semiconductors, shipping, defence, and global equities rapidly.
Average US tariffs on Chinese goods remain well above levels seen before 2018, with Beijing maintaining retaliatory measures across multiple sectors. Corporate leaders watching the summit had hoped for a longer-term framework for economic engagement. They received broad political language instead.
Contradictions within the US delegation added to the uncertainty. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer pointed to large future agricultural purchases from China, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested some commodity arrangements had already been settled under earlier agreements.
“Mixed messaging creates more uncertainty, not less,” Green said.
With no enforceable agreements to show for the talks, analysts say markets now face the risk of a sharp reset once the optimism generated by summit optics begins to fade against the absence of documentation.
