Trump said in his Truth Social post that the hour-and-a-half conversation phone call was “focused almost entirely on TRADE,” while the Chinese readout singled out Xi’s stern warning on Taiwan – the reddest of lines for Beijing – and the issue of Chinese student visas.

China sought to depict a call between Xi Jinping and President Trump as an appeal from one strongman leader to another to run a tight ship and stay on course.

The rare leader-to-leader call confronted weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals but left key issues to further talks.