Xi rolled out a red carpet for Trump, but gave little away

It was historic, but not as anyone had predicted. First there was Donald Trump, a self-declared - teetotaller, apparently drinking champagne after Xi Jinping assured him that China's "great rejuvenation" could go hand in hand with "Make America great again".

- David Smith

Then there was a Chinese military band playing arendition of the US president's signature campaign song, YMCA.

Beneath giant chandeliers and a big orange backdrop with pagoda-style roofs, last Thursday's state banquet in Beijing featured characters whose presence would have been unthinkable here a decade ago: Elon Musk, the tech billionaire; Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host turned "secretary of war"; and of course Trump himself, a former reality TV star now leading the world's biggest superpower.

As the guests dug into a menu that included lobster in tomato soup, crispy beef ribs and Beijing roast duck, the mood was convivial after the first day of a summit that had offered cosy choreography and the promise of stability in the world's most important bilateral relationship.

But by the time Trump and his entourage boarded Air Force One last Friday, the generous helpings of food might not have been enough to stave off an empty feeling. He came, he saw, he left without much to show for it: no swift end to the war in Iran, no definitive answer on the fate of Taiwan and only the vague outlines of corporate mega-deals. Observers suggested the summit failed to live up to the hype.

"It was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance," Rush Doshi, director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations thinktank in Washington, told reporters. "There was a focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China... a lot of pomp, a lot of pageantry, a lot of symbolism but not a lot of substance or deliverables." The Beijing that greeted Trump is oozing self-confidence. Commuters cram into smooth-running subway trains. Designer labels from around the world populate luxury shopping malls.