One call, two takeaways: Trump says TikTok deal approved; China holds back

No sign of clear progress after US leader's phone call with Xi, say experts

- Bhagyashree Garekar US Bureau Chief Lim Min Zhang China Correspondent

President Donald Trump has painted a rosier picture of his much-hyped phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping than did the Chinese side, whose version of it was more reserved.

Mr Trump, who described the Sept 19 call as "very productive" in a social media post, cited progress on many issues including trade, fentanyl, the Ukraine war and a TikTok deal that he said had been "approved" by the Chinese President.

And it was he who announced a visit to China in early 2026 and a meeting with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea.

The meeting in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, slated for late October, will be the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders since 2019.

"I also agreed with President Xi that we would meet at the Apec summit in South Korea, that I would go to China in the early part of next year, and that President Xi would, likewise, come to the United States at an appropriate time," Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

China's readout of the phone call emerged before Mr Trump's social media post. It described the conversation as "pragmatic, positive and constructive". But its tone was more circumspect.

There was no mention of the presidential meeting at Apec or the visits that Mr Trump said were on the cards in 2026.

The Chinese statement was also more specific on TikTok than Mr Trump's vague mention of "approval of the TikTok deal" in his social media post.

China laid out its position carefully, but without giving away its preference in a prospective deal that would force TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to divest its stake in favour of American investors. It also did not let on whether it would let ByteDance sell its valuable algorithm to an American company.