Trump: US-China Trade Deal soon
BBC News
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Donald Trump has said the US can sign a trade deal with China "pretty soon" after talks with Xi Jinping concluded in South Korea
He said the issue over US access to rare earths has been resolved, and that Washington would immediately reduce the tariffs on Chinese imports
A fragile truce in May scaled back retaliatory tariffs that had gone well past 100% on both sides – but tensions over trade had ramped up again
Our correspondents unpack the moment when Trump and Xi met this morning, explain what was on the table for the talks, and why Xi would have felt like he was walking in with a strong hand
Analysts were also expecting a final deal on the sale of Chinese-owned TikTok's US operations – and some stability in an otherwise volatile rivalry
Edited by Yvette Tan in Singapore, with reporting from Laura Bicker in Busan, Jake Kwon and Suranjana Tewari in Gyeongju and Anthony Zurcher travelling with the US president
Taiwan never came up in the discussions, Trump says.
There were concerns ahead of today's talks that the self-governed island would become a pawn in the highly-anticipated meeting between the two superpowers.
Trump says he has agreed to "work together" with Xi on Ukraine.
"Ukraine – we're both going to work together – we agree that the sides are locked in fighting and sometimes you gotta let them fight I guess. But we're going to work together on Ukraine," he says.
Trump said that now is the "appropriate" time for the US to resume nuclear testing given that other major countries had started to do so.
"It had to do with others," he says, highlighting that the US had the largest nuclear stockpile.
Trump said Beijing will be speaking to Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, noting that US authorities serve as "sort of a referee" in their discussions.
Trump also said these discussions will not involve the Blackwell chip – considered Nvidia's best chip for AI – in response to a reporter's question, but did not give further details on this aspect of the talks.
"But it's a lot of chips, and that's good for us," he said.
Trump says the issue over the trade of rare earths has been settled, but has not given any details.
The flow of rare earths has been a key point of contention between the US and China.
Beijing holds a monopoly over the processing of critical minerals, and tightened its grip over rare earth exports in recent weeks.
"All of the rare earth [issue] is settled, and that's for the world… This was a worldwide situation and not just a US situation," Trump told reporters.
"There's no roadblock from China anymore," he adds.
Washington and Beijing are "in agreement on many things", Trump said.
He said that effective immediately, the US will reduce tariffs on all Chinese goods enacted earlier in response to the flow of chemical ingredients for fentanyl into the US.
Trump noted that China, as announced earlier, will start buying large quantities of soybeans "which I appreciated", he said.
We are hearing from President Trump live on Air Force One now, where he is speaking with reporters.
"It was an amazing meeting. He is a great leader," Trump says.
"We have come to a conclusion on many important points and we will be handing them to you in a little while," he says.
As we wait for details of the meeting between Trump and Xi to be released, here are images from earlier today at Gimhae Air Base in South Korea.
Xi strikes a professional stance during the meeting, one analyst notes
While Trump appeared to be aware that he was coming on the backfoot, the same analyst notes
The meeting ends in a handshake, the same way it started
Trump has left on Air Force One with no immediate word on how the talks went
Trump's Air Force One has taken off and is enroute to Washington. The US president has not commented on how his meeting with Xi went.
Earlier this morning, the Chinese stock market reached its highest in a decade in a sign that investors were optimistic about the presidents' meeting.
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained over 2% in the past five days, reaching a high this morning of 4,025.39 points.
Markets around the world posted gains over the week as US and Chinese officials tried to ease trade tensions, raising hopes of a trade agreement between the sides.
The meeting has now concluded but we have yet to hear what has come out of it. 
Laura Bicker
China correspondent, reporting from Busan
Xi is now on the way to Gyeongju
The welcoming committee for President Xi in the streets outside the airport have been carefully choreographed.
The people cheering for the Chinese leader are being told where and when to wave their flags by officials speaking in Mandarin.
Any anti-Chinese protests have been kept well away. President Xi is now driving to Gyeongju, where the Apec leaders' summit is due to begin tomorrow. This is his first visit to South Korea in 11 years.
Trump and Xi shook hands as they leave the meeting
Trump and Xi are now leaving their meeting venue at the airport. Xi's motorcade is rolling away, while Trump has boarded Air Force One.
Xi will be travelling to the city of Gyeongju, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit is held.
World leaders are expected to arrive for the Apec leaders' summit that begins tomorrow.
Meanwhile Trump will be flying out of South Korea. He attended several Apec-related events yesterday and will be skipping the main summit tomorrow. Neither one has made any comment about their meeting.
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent, travelling with the president
The press pool is now gathered outside of the building where Trump and Xi are meeting. Parked on the tarmac is Air Force One, which Trump will board to fly out of South Korea.
Chinese broadcaster CCTV says the two leaders met for an hour and 40 minutes, longer than scheduled.
The meeting was originally supposed to wrap up at 12:30 local time, with Trump expected to depart by 12:45 local time.
The bilateral talks, which have happened behind closed doors, have ended.
We'll bring you the latest lines from the meeting as we get them. Stick with us.
Taiwan has confidence in its relationship with the US, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung told reporters on Thursday, when asked about the meeting between Trump and Xi.
Earlier this week, Lin said he is not worried that Trump would "abandon" Taiwan.
China has long vowed to "reunify" with the self-governing island and has not ruled out the use of force in doing so.
There are concerns that the island would become a pawn in today's talks between the two superpowers, even as Trump has claimed that China will not invade Taiwan while he is president.
Washington has said it remains committed to the "One China" policy, by recognising and having formal ties with China rather than Taiwan, but it also maintains a robust, unofficial relationship with the island – which includes selling weapons for Taiwan to defend itself.
That said, Trump has not approved any new arms sales to Taipei since taking office early this year.
Today's meeting between Xi and Trump is an "enormously helpful" step for China and the US to move on from rancour towards a more predictable relationship, Frank Lavin, a former undersecretary at the US Department of Commerce.
"Both leaders signalled with their opening statements that they do want to take issues off the table… and at least get relations back on an even keel," said Lavin, speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme.
Lavin says he observed how Trump, at the start of their meeting, praised Xi while the Chinese leader carried himself with "dignity and professionalism".
"I took a signal from that that he (Trump) believes he is a bit on the backfoot and he wants to signal some goodwill towards Xi to try and get some resolution to the issues he's put forward," Lavin says.
"Trump sort of lit the fire if you will, and Xi responded in kind, and now both sides are going to sit down and see if they can put out the fire they themselves started," he says.
Suranjana Tewari
Asia Business Correspondent, reporting from Gyeongju
As meetings between both leaders continue, here are three issues that will likely be up for discussion:
Tariffs
Tariffs are a real sticking point – Trump had said earlier that he expects to lower tariffs on China in exchange for their cooperation in cracking down on the exports of ingredients used to make fentanyl.
Rare Earths and AI chips
Trump is facing competing pressures because companies like Nvidia want to sell their advanced chips to China. But there's the issue of national security – US officials say Beijing could use high-end chips for military applications.
And then there's rare earths – China's ultimate bargaining chip. China refines 90% of the world's critical minerals and has used the control of supply as leverage in the last few months. The US and other countries are investing heavily to break this domination – but results won't come immediately
TikTok
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said the sale of TikTok to a US buyer could be finalised during the meeting between Trump and Xi. There has been little additional information about the terms of the sale – but if there is one – it would be another win for Trump.
The US will make an announcement that will be a “resounding victory” for American farmers after the Trump-Xi meeting, the US Treasury secretary posted on X, external on Thursday in the lead-up to the talks.
In a post on X, Scott Bessent praised Trump, saying he was "showing what successful American leadership looks like".
The resumption of soybean trade is expected to be a key talking point in President Trump's talks with President Xi.
In a sign of hope, Beijing has bought its first tranche of American soybeans this season, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
If a deal is sealed, it would be a huge win for Trump and American farmers.
China has been the world’s biggest buyer of soybeans but stopped ordering from the US as the trade war heated up.
Leehyun Choi
Reporting from outside Gimhae International Airport
Outside the summit venue, the area surrounding Gimhae Aiport is heavily policed to keep out any potential protesters.
Moments ago, a pro-US, anti-China Youtuber's broadcast vehicle with mounted speakers approached the intersection where President Xi's motorcade is presumed to pass through after the summit.
It was swiftly blocked by dozens of police officers and forced to turn back.
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