BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday that the U.S. and China "will have clashes and even conflicts" if the long-standing issue of Taiwan's independence is mishandled.

If that issue is not handled "properly," Xi said, it could put "the entire relationship in great jeopardy," Chinese state news outlet Xinhua reported.

Xi's admonition came as he and Trump held their first round of talks in Beijing, kicking off a high-stakes two-day summit that is expected to cover trade, tariffs and Iran, in addition to the perennial friction over Taiwan.

Xi stressed to Trump that "the Taiwan question" is "the most important issue in China-U.S. relations," Xinhua reported after the two world leaders held talks at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

He also reiterated China's position that Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait "are as irreconcilable as fire and water."

Beijing considers Taiwan, a democratically self-ruled island, part of its territory. The island's ruling party rejects that claim. The U.S. has long acknowledged China's view, but maintains strong relationships with Taipei and has kept vague about how it would respond to an attack on Taiwan.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in an interview with Joe Kernen on Thursday morning that Trump understands the issues surrounding Taiwan and is "very, very resolute in his answers."

"I'm sure we'll be hearing more from him in the coming days on that," Bessent said.

Some China experts in the U.S. have said that Trump's tangential speaking style, which he himself has dubbed "the weave," could lead to an off-script comment on Taiwan that China could parse to its advantage.

Trump did not respond to a reporter's question on Taiwan while standing next to Xi in Beijing.

A U.S. readout of the bilateral talks, which did not mention Taiwan, said Trump and Xi had "a good meeting" centered on enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides also agreed that the Strait of Hormuz, a central choke point in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, must remain open and free of tolls, said the U.S. readout, which was shared by a White House official.

Xi additionally expressed interest in buying more U.S. oil to reduce China's dependence on the Strait of Hormuz in the future, the official said. The two presidents also discussed increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products, per the readout.

"Leaders from many of the United States' largest companies joined a portion of the meeting," the readout said. Trump brought a group of business leaders with him on the trip.

At a state banquet held in Trump's honor, the leaders praised the "historic" visit and vowed to jointly deepen and promote the U.S. and China's relationship.

Following an "in-depth exchange of views," Xi said both leaders believed that Chinese-U.S. relations were "the most important bilateral ties in the world" and that the countries should be partners rather than rivals, in comments translated by Reuters. Xi added that "mutual respect" was key to stable ties.

In his speech, Trump described Xi as a "friend" and said the relationship was one of the most consequential in world history. Both countries, he added, had an opportunity to "create a future of greater prosperity, cooperation and happiness."

He said the leaders had held "extremely positive and constructive discussions" earlier in the day and invited the Chinese president to visit the U.S. on Sept. 24. The two leaders could also meet at APEC and G20 events in China and the U.S. late in the year.

Earlier Thursday, Trump told Xi that the relationship between the two countries was going to be "better than ever before," according to official broadcast footage. Trump, who also visited China in 2017 in his first term, said the two leaders have known each other personally for longer than any other U.S. or Chinese president.

Speaking just ahead of Trump, Xi noted the global attention on the meeting, and said a major question for the two countries was whether they could avoid the "Thucydides Trap," according to an official English translation of his remarks broadcast by CCTV.

The Thucydides Trap refers to how tensions historically between a rising and ruling power have often resulted in a war. Graham Allison, the Harvard professor who popularized the concept, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" that he expects the trade truce Trump and Xi reached at their meeting in South Korea last fall will become a formal agreement.

In addition to posing the rhetorical question of whether the U.S. and China could avoid the Thucydides Trap, Xi asked if the two countries could meet major challenges together for global stability, and work for "a brighter future" for humanity. That's according to the official CCTV broadcast of his opening remarks.

The two leaders are set to have multiple discussions through midday Friday.

The visit to China is the first by a sitting U.S. president in nearly a decade. Much has changed since, including an escalation in trade tensions, U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology and rapid growth in Chinese auto manufacturing.

"China comes into this meeting far more confident than in 2017, when it feared even a small rise in U.S. tariffs. In the last year, Xi has been able to push back and neutralize much of Trump's actions," said Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China was the first major economy to retaliate against Trump's "liberation day" tariffs in April 2025.

Earlier on Thursday, Xi walked down the stairs of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to shake hands with Trump, according to official broadcast footage. The U.S. president first shook hands with Chinese officials, followed by Xi greeting the U.S. delegation.

China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, and Zheng Shanjie, head of the economic planning agency, were among the Chinese representatives, the footage showed.