US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping began a second day of meetings in Beijing on Friday, to wrap up talks in which the unresolved Iran war and tension in the Strait of Hormuz have featured prominently.
The leaders met at Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the ruling Communist Party and residence of its top officials, Chinese state media reported.
Mr Trump and Mr Xi reached "a series of new consensuses" during their talks in Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday, without elaborating.
The leaders also agreed to properly handle each other's concerns and strengthen communication and co-ordination on international and regional issues, the ministry said, adding that the talks "fostered mutual understanding and deepened mutual trust".
Both sides described the first day of the visit positively although it came with a stark warning from the Chinese leader over Taiwan. Mr Xi said mishandling of the issue could lead to "clashes" between Beijing and Washington.
Mr Trump told Fox News on Thursday evening that Mr Xi offered to help with Iran, although this was not confirmed by the Chinese side.
A White House readout of their meeting said the leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopen without curbs, to support the free flow of energy.
Mr Xi stated he would limit military support for Iran, and that "he didn't like that they're charging tolls", the US President said.
Iran claims that it is charging vessels for passage through the waterway, although it is unclear whether such tolls have been enforced and if Tehran is able to do so.
“It’s really important for China to have the Strait of Hormuz open, no tolling, no military control, and that was clear from the meeting. So we welcome that,” US trade representative Jamieson Greer told journalists from Beijing.
“The Chinese are being very pragmatic, and they don’t want to be on the wrong side of this."
Mr Trump increased pressure on Iran to reach a diplomatic deal.
"I am not going to be much more patient," he said in the same interview. "They should make a deal."
The American leader also suggested an operation to track down and seize Iran's enriched uranium.
“The other thing we could do is bomb it again,” Mr Trump said. “But I would feel better getting it, and we will get it.”
Mr Trump also said that he and the Chinese leader had agreed to keep Iran from having nuclear weapons. "We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve," he added.
In a long post on Truth Social defending America’s standing in the world, after Mr Xi appeared to refer to the US as a declining nation, Mr Trump praised his country’s economic performance, the American military's capture of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro and action against Iran.
Mr Xi said he hoped the US and China could transcend the “Thucydides Trap” — whereby the risk of war is heightened when a rapidly rising power threatens to displace an established one.
Mr Trump said the Chinese leader was referring to decline during the administration of former president Joe Biden.
“President Xi was not referring to the incredible rise that the United States has displayed to the world during the 16 spectacular months of the Trump administration, which includes ... the military decimation of Iran (to be continued),” he wrote.
