President Donald Trump said Thursday that China’s leader Xi Jinping had offered to help negotiate an end to the war with Iran and keep the Strait of Hormuz open to global shipping, potentially giving the Administration a pathway towards de-escalating a conflict that has rattled energy markets and deepened concerns about a widening regional war.
Following their summit meeting in Beijing, Trump told Fox News that Xi would like to help resolve the conflict and reopen the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass. “He said, ‘I would love to be a help, if I can be of any help whatsoever,’” Trump said.
Trump added that Xi assured him that China would not provide military equipment to Iran. “He said he’s not going to give military equipment,” Trump told Fox News. “That’s a big statement.” The assurance, however, stopped short of addressing broader questions about Chinese support for Iran, including intelligence sharing, electronics exports, or the enormous revenues Iran derives from oil sales to Chinese buyers.
China occupies a uniquely important position in the Iran conflict because it is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, providing Iran with a critical economic lifeline despite American sanctions. Trump Administration officials have hoped Xi would use that leverage to pressure Iran toward a nuclear agreement on terms the U.S. would accept.
But the Chinese leader’s offer appeared carefully calibrated. Trump said Xi also told him that China intended to continue buying oil from Iran, even as Beijing opposed any effort by Iran to militarize or effectively toll the Strait of Hormuz. “He said, you know, they buy a lot of their oil there and they’d like to keep doing that,” Trump said.
The Chinese government’s own account of the meeting did not mention the Iran issue directly. A readout from the White House said that Xi agreed with Trump that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that Xi “expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future.”
“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy,” the readout continued. “President Xi also made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use.”
The summit unfolded against a backdrop of growing concern that the United States’ expanding military commitments in the Middle East could weaken its focus on Asia at a moment when China has become more assertive around Taiwan and throughout the Indo-Pacific. Xi warned Trump that Taiwan remained the most dangerous flashpoint in the relationship between the world’s two largest powers, and that disputes over the self-governed island could push Washington and Beijing toward direct confrontation if mishandled.
“The U.S. must handle the Taiwan issue with utmost caution,” Xi said, according to a Chinese state media readout of the talks. “If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation.”
The two leaders met in the cavernous Great Hall of the People beneath rows of American and Chinese flags after a welcoming ceremony that included an honor guard and schoolchildren waving banners. Trump repeatedly praised Xi as “a great leader,” while the Chinese president spoke in more restrained terms about “strategic stability” between the two superpowers.
While Trump focused largely on deal-making and personal rapport, Xi, by contrast, repeatedly returned to the idea that the two countries must avoid confrontation. “The common interests between China and the United States outweigh our differences,” Xi said. “Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both.”
Trump said that Xi had also agreed to purchase U.S. soybeans, oil and liquified natural gas, and 200 737 Boeing jets.
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