China has pledged to buy “at least” $17 billion worth of agricultural products from the United States annually until 2028.
The commitment was announced following a high‑level summit in Beijing between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Al Jazeera reported.
According to a White House fact sheet released on Sunday, the 2026 target will apply to the remainder of the year on a proportionate basis.
These new purchases supplement a prior commitment made during the October summit in South Korea, where China pledged to buy at least 87 million metric tonnes of US soya beans.
Moreover, Beijing will renew listings for more than 400 production facilities to restore market access for US beef and will resume poultry imports from states that the US Department of Agriculture determines to be free of avian influenza.
To manage future economic interactions, the two leaders agreed to establish two new entities: the US-China Board of Trade and the US-China Board of Investment.
However, the White House noted that China has not yet officially confirmed or commented on these specific announcements, and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The two-day summit featured significant pageantry but resulted in few other concrete agreements. While the leaders sought alignment on economic issues, they largely avoided sensitive topics such as Taiwan and the US-Israel war on Iran.
A White House readout indicated that both sides agreed on the necessity of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and stated that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon”.
Beijing did not explicitly endorse the nuclear restriction in its own communications, instead stressing the importance of reaching “a settlement on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues that accommodates the concerns of all parties”.
Notably, official statements from the White House omitted any mention of Taiwan, despite Xi Jinping previously warning of “clashes and even conflicts” between the superpowers if the island’s status is not “handled properly”.
Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, advised caution regarding the unilateral announcements. “On agriculture purchases, I’m sceptical of any announcements that have been made by one side and not confirmed by the other. This is sometimes an issue in many relationships, but it’s acute under Trump 2, especially with China,” Elms remarked.
Elms further suggested that while an additional $17bn in purchases is a welcome boost, the overall effect on the $30 trillion US economy would be minimal.
“But the US is a $30 trillion economy. Even if these buys materialise, the net effect is going to be tiny,” she said. Following a decade of economic tension, bilateral trade in goods stood at approximately $415bn last year, down significantly from the $690bn recorded in 2022.
