US President Donald Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan on Thursday, aiming to end years of trade conflict and restore stability between the worlds two largest economies. The talks, their first face-to-face meeting since 2019, come as both nations weigh escalating tariffs, technology controls and strategic rivalry in Asia.

PresidentDonald Trumpmet face-to-face with Chinese leaderXi Jinpingon Thursday, giving the leaders of the worlds two largest economies a chance to stabilise relations after months of turmoil over trade issues.

Trumps aggressive use of tariffs since returning to the White House for a second term, combined with Chinas retaliatory limits on exports of rare earth elements, has given the meeting newfound urgency. Both sides recognise that neither wants to risk blowing up the world economy in ways that could jeopardise their own fortunes.

Were going to have a very successful meeting, I have no doubt, Trump said as they shook hands. The American president added that Xi is a very tough negotiator. Trump said they could possibly sign a deal coming out of the meeting but that they have a great understanding of each other.

When the two were seated, Xi read prepared remarks emphasising a willingness to work together despite differences.

Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other, he said through a translator. It is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.

There was a slight difference in translation, as Chinas Xinhua News Agency reported Xi as telling Trump that having some differences is inevitable.

After meeting Thursday with Trump, Xi said in a statement relayed byChinese state news agency Xinhua that, "The economic and trade teams of the two countries exchanged in-depth views on important economic and trade issues and reached a consensus on resolving them."

"Both teams should refine and finalise follow-up work as soon as possible, maintain and implement the consensus and provide tangible results to set minds at ease about the economies of China, the United States and the world," he added.

In the days leading up to the meeting, US officials signalled that Trump did not intend to follow through on a recent threat to impose an additional 100 percent import tax on Chinese goods and China showed signs it was willing to relax export controls on rare earthsand resume purchases of American soybeans.

Read moreUS and China agree on trade framework for rare earths, soybeans

The meeting began at 11:13am (10pm ET) in Busan,South Korea, a port city about 76 kilometres (47 miles) south of Gyeongju, the main venue for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Trumps helicopter landed at 10:17am local time, with an Air China plane rolling onto the tarmac about 10 minutes later.

The talks lasted a little over 100 minutes, with the two leaders emerging out the front door and speaking briefly. They shook hands, and Trump appeared to say something into Xis ear just before the Chinese leader entered his limousine. Trump was shortly back aboard Air Force One to return to the United States.

Officials from both countries had met earlier this week in Kuala Lumpur to lay the groundwork for their leaders. Afterward, Chinas top trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, said they had reached a preliminary consensus, a statement affirmed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who called it a very successful framework.

Trump told reporters while flying to South Korea aboard Air Force One that he may reducetariffsplaced on China earlier this year in connection with its role infentanylproduction.

I expect to be lowering that because I believe theyre going to help us with the fentanyl situation, Trump said, later adding, The relationship with China is very good.

Shortly before the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social that it would be the G2, a recognition of America and Chinas status as the worlds two biggest economies. The Group of Seven and Group of 20 are other forums of industrialised nations.

But while those summits often take place in luxurious venues, this meeting unfolded in humbler surroundings a small gray building with a blue roof on a military base adjacent to Busans international airport.

The anticipated dtente has given investors and businesses caught between the two nations a sense of relief. US stock markets have climbed on hopes of a trade framework emerging from the talks.

However cordial the rhetoric, Trump and Xi remain on a potential collision course as their countries compete to dominate manufacturing, develop emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and shape global affairs including the status of Russias war in Ukraine. Trump stated thatTaiwan"never came up" in the conversation.

The proposed deal on the table fits the pattern weve seen all year short-term stabilisation dressed up as strategic progress, said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Both sides are managing volatility, calibrating just enough cooperation to avert crisis while the deeper rivalry endures.

The United States and China have each shown they believe they have leverage over the other, and the past year has demonstrated that tentative steps forward can be short-lived.

For Trump, that leverage comes from tariffs.

China has faced new tariffs this year totalling 30 percent, of which 20 percent has been tied to its role in fentanyl production. But the rates have been volatile. In April, Trump announced plans to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent, only to abandon the move as markets recoiled.

Then, on October 10, Trump threatened a 100 percent import tax in response to Chinas rare earth restrictions.

Xi has his own pressure point in the world economy: China is the top producer and processor of the rare earth minerals used to make fighter jets, robots, electric vehicles, and other high-tech products.

Watch moreChina further tightens export rules for rare earth elements crucial to tech sector

China tightened export restrictions on October 9, repeating a familiar cycle in which each nation jockeys for advantage only to back down after renewed talks.

What happens after the meeting may prove just as significant. Trump plans to return to Washington, while Xi will remain in South Korea to meet regional leaders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which officially begins Friday.

Xi sees an opportunity to position China as a reliable partner and bolster bilateral and multilateral relations with countries frustrated by the US administrations tariff policy, said Jay Truesdale, a former State Department official and CEO of TD International, a risk and intelligence advisory firm.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Originally published on France24