By bizn_fun 
But the meeting also showed the gulf between the two leaders’ approaches.
Xi was self-contained, and said only what he had prepared. He entered the meeting knowing he had a strong hand. China had learned from Trump’s first term, leveraging its chokehold on rare earths, and diversifying its trade partners so it is less reliant on the US.
Afterwards, he was far more measured in his language than Trump. The two sides would be working on delivering outcomes that will serve as a “reassuring pill” for both countries’ economies, he said.
Trump was – as always – more ad-lib. But the US president was also noticeably more tense than he had been for the rest of his whirlwind trip to South East Asia – a reflection of the high stakes in Thursday’s meeting.
The glamour and pageantry on show since he arrived at his first stop in Malaysia just five days ago was also absent.
Gone were the gold-laden palaces of the sort he was welcomed to in Japan on Tuesday. Instead, a building at an airport, lying behind barbed wire and security checkpoints.
The military bands which welcomed Trump to South Korea on Wednesday were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, the only sign something important was going on inside was the heavy police and media presence.
But despite the quieter public face, what was happening inside was arguably the most significant hour and 20 minutes of the trip.
Henry Wang, a former adviser to China’s State Council, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Trump and Xi’s talks “went very well”.
It may not have been a trade deal, but a “framework and structure has been laid”, he added – calling it “a good start”.