Trump China visit live: US president claims many ‘problems settled’ as he holds final round of talks with Xinewsline24

While those outside their closed lunch chowed down on McDonalds, the menu for Trump and Xi was far more formal.

The two leaders had minced codfish in seafood soup, crispy and stir-fried lobster balls and pan-seared beef fillet stuffed with morel mushrooms, according to the White House.

They also ate kung pao chicken and scallops, braised seasonal greens, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and beans, as well as stewed beef in a bun and steamed pork and shrimp dumplings.

Dessert was chocolate brownies and fruits and ice cream. Coffee and tea also was served.

After lunch, Trump is not expected to make any more public appearances before heading to the airport to fly back to Washington.

Before their closed-door lunch, Xi gave Trump a tour of Zhongnanhai, the former imperial gardens and now the seat of power.

“Zhongnanhai is where the CPC Central Committee and the State Council work, and it is also where I work and live,” Xi said.

“After the founding of New China, Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others all lived here.”

In the highly manicured garden, the two men walked with their interpreters as they admired the greenery.

“All these trees are 200 to 300 years old. There’s a big one that’s about 400 years old,” Xi said as he pointed out specific trees to Trump, who expressed his admiration.

“There’s even one that’s 1,000 years old. It’s somewhere else,” Xi said.

Xi said he invited Trump to the quarters in response to the hospitality Trump showed by inviting him to Mar-A-Lago in 2017.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held “in-depth” discussions on key bilateral and global issues during Trump’s visit to China and reached a “series of new common understandings”, according to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua News Agency.

The spokesperson said the two leaders agreed on a new vision for a “constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability” aimed at guiding ties over the coming years and promoting “steady, sound and sustainable” relations.

They also agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on regional and international issues, the spokesperson said.

He added that the meetings had deepened mutual trust, expanded practical cooperation and brought “stability and certainty” to the world.

During their walk around Zhongnanhai, Trump said he was very impressed with China and promised to reciprocate the hospitality.

“Like reciprocal trade the visit will be reciprocal,” Trump said, referring to the 24 September visit of Xi to Washington.

“So we’re gonna lay it on the line and we’re gonna have… and you’re gonna walk away hopefully very impressed, like I’m very impressed with China.”

While walking in the gardens with Xi, Trump complimented the flowers at the Communist Party compound, saying: “These are the most beautiful roses anyone has ever seen.”

While Donald Trump enjoyed a formal lunch inside Xi Jinping’s residence in Zhongnanhai, everyone waiting outside got something much more familiar to the US president – McDonald’s.

Outside the residence, US embassy staff, White House aides and members of the travelling press corps were handed bags of burgers and fries as they waited in parking lots and vans for Trump’s departure back to Washington.

McDonald’s is famously one of Trump’s favourite meals. His chief of staff Susie Wiles recently said he eats it almost every day.

During his 2024 re-election campaign, Trump even worked briefly at a McDonald’s drive-thru window, and earlier this year had a McDonald’s order delivered to the Oval Office during an event on taxes for tipped workers.

Pastor Jin Mingri was eating dinner at his apartment in Beihai in China’s Guangxi province on 10 October when at least 20 plainclothes police officers barged in and arrested him.

The founder of the Zion Church was among dozens of Christians who were arrested that month in a nationwide crackdown on unauthorised churches.

Trump and Xi have begun their working lunch, the final event on the schedule before the US president returns to Washington.

The final day of talks is still underway in China as Xi and Trump met at the Zhongnanhai compound.

Xi Jinping said he and Donald Trump had reached a “new bilateral relationship” that was “constructive” during the joint address.

He said they have reached a “milestone” in US-China ties.