Why some expectations are low
Expectations are low for the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping as geopolitical tensions over Iran and trade persist. Analysts suggest the summit will focus on managing the status quo rather than achieving major breakthroughs.
Why it matters
Provides insight into the fragile state of US-China relations and the impact of global conflicts on bilateral trade.
President Donald Trump is slated to host Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House, and the stakes are sky high — but some China watchers are once again keeping their expectations low.
That's even as the Iran war could loom larger than ever over the leaders' talks, in light of a new U.S. plan to aggressively sanction Iran's business partners — potentially including China, by far Tehran's biggest trading partner.
But while the war threatens to rattle the superpowers' fragile relations, it may end up a smaller slice of the conversation, as it appeared to be when Trump and Xi met in Beijing four months ago.
At that summit, Trump and a coterie of corporate leaders were lavishly feted by the Chinese but left with few concrete business deals or clear breakthroughs on the thorniest geopolitical issues, including Iran and Taiwan .
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