The food, music and praise served up at the Trump-Xi state banquet

The finest china, haute cuisine and diplomatic pleasantries were on show at Beijing's Great Hall of the People as Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted his US counterpart Donald Trump.The state banquet was not just a coming together of the leaders of the world's top economies, but also their cultures.Guests dined on Beijing roast duck, pork buns and and beef ribs before the waiters, in traditional red clothing, served up dessert with a more American flavour: tiramisu, fruit and ice cream and a trumpet-shell shaped pastry.But it was a performance from the People's Liberation Army band that may have stolen the show, breaking out a rendition of YMCA - the Village People hit that is a favourite of Mr Trump's. The evening saw the US president heap praise on Mr Xi, who returned the pleasantries in droves with Mr Trump extending an offer to do it all again soon.Mr Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan have been invited to visit the White House in September.Chinese President Xi Jinping proposes a toast during a state dinner. (AP Photo: Mark Schiefelbein)The buoyant mood in the Great Hall of the People belying major frictions in the US-China relationship."Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can totally go hand in hand... and advance the wellbeing of the whole world," Mr Xi said in his toast.While Mr Trump acknowledged the US and China's longstanding connections and "extremely positive" talks.US President Donald Trump's table setting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Reuters: Evan Vucci)Taiwan talks off the table for nowLive images streamed before the leaders arrived at the state banquet - and the media was ushered out - showed a jovial atmosphere, with several among the top brass of China's ruling Communist Party chatting and smiling with members of the Trump administration.Chinese President Xi Jinping sits next to US President Donald Trump at the state dinner at the Great Hall of the People. (AP Photo: Mark Schiefelbein)But amid the praise and admiration for each other, there was a warning.Mr Xi put Mr Trump firmly on notice that any missteps by the United States on Taiwan could push their two countries into "conflict"."If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation," Mr Xi told Mr Trump according to Chinese state media.China has vowed to bring Taiwan under its control while the United States is required under domestic law to provide weapons to the democratic island so that it can defend itself.The United States' readout of the leaders' bilateral meeting had no mention of Taiwan but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is with Mr Trump in China, confirmed Taiwan was discussed.China "always raise it on their side, we always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics," he told NBC News.US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had "good" talks on Thursday. (Reuters: Evan Vucci)But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president would have more to say on Taiwan "in the coming days"."It wouldn't be a US-China summit summit without the Taiwan issue coming up," Mr Bessent, who is also in China, told US network CNBC."President Trump understands the issues here and understands the sensitivities around all this."US President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook leave the Great Hall of the People after attending a state banquet. (Reuters: Evan Vucci)'Good' talks held between Trump and XiMr Trump said Mr Xi had offered China's help to open the Strait of Hormuz and pledged not to send military equipment to aid Iran in its war against the US and Israel in their bilateral meeting earlier that day."He said he's not going to give military equipment… he said that strongly," Mr Trump said after the meeting on Fox News.The White House said it was a "good" meeting with the two leaders agreeing a course of action on the Strait of Hormuz."The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy," the White House said.The White House read out of the two-hour meeting said Mr Xi also expressed an interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China's dependence on the strait in the future.But Beijing's own readout of the meeting did not mention that.It said the two leaders had "exchanged views on major international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula".Leaders from many of the United States’ largest companies joined a portion of the meeting while the two leaders discussed expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into US industries and purchasing of American agricultural products.The motorcade of US President Donald Trump parked next to Tiananmen Square as he attended a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People. (AP Photo: Mark Schiefelbein)More talks and tea reception on Friday's agendaThe war in Iran and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is likely to dominate Friday's agenda again.There has been no major announcements from the visit so far but Mr Trump has confirmed China would order 200 Boeing jets, a total lower that US media had been reporting.The three-day visit is likely to be more about pageantry and symbolism than substantive political or economic breakthroughs.But the White House has insisted that Mr Trump would not be making the trip without aiming for concrete results.Mr Trump and Mr Xi will have another round of talks on Friday, as well as attending a tea reception, before Mr Trump boards Air Force One for his flight back to Washington.Reuters/AP