President Trump's Mar-a-Lago hosting with Chinese President Xi Jinping appears to be bearing some fruit, per the FT, which says China has offered the following concessions on trade:
- A drop on China's ban on U.S. beef, which has been in place since a Mad Cow Disease scare in 2003.
- Foreign investors will be allowed to hold majority stakes in Chinese investment and securities companies. This concept was discussed during the Obama administration, and a Chinese official told the FT it would have gone through had Obama had a few more months in office.
Why it matters: Trump needs concrete wins on trade, particularly for his heartland voters, and China wants to lock in a bilateral trade deal with the U.S., which it isn't eager to fight in a Trumpian trade war.