Takeaways from the Trump-Xi state visit: Pageantry and pandas

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) speak via an interpreter as they depart following a tour of the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi Jinping this week for the first state visit that the Chinese leader has made since 2015.

The visit comes at an important time for both men. For Trump, the state visit comes about six weeks before the midterm elections. Xi has an important calendar ahead as well, with a key Communist Party meeting scheduled for next month that should set up a widely expected announcement next fall that Xi will rule for another five-year term.

But there were a few commitments that came out of the meetings in Washington this week and more emphasis put on pageantry.

The U.S. says the two countries will extend by two months a trade truce that lets the U.S. access rare earth elements from China, and for China to access some advanced American semiconductor chips.

But the two delegations did not announce crucial details about two still-unformed boards of trade and investment, Boeing purchases and pending Chinese agricultural purchases.

Instead, the two men relied on cordial remarks that glossed over the significant trade and economic complaints that have driven recent tension in the U.S.-China relationship. At a state dinner of about 145 guests, Xi toasted to Trump's health and a "new chapter" in bilateral relations, while Trump highlighted the long history of commerce between both countries.

Xi "wielded many of the usual feel-good tropes of Chinese diplomacy," said Lucy Hornby, author of The Last Man , an upcoming biography on Xi, such as panda diplomacy.