President Donald Trump on Thursday kicks off the busiest portion of his China visit, a summit expected to be long on pageantry and symbolism but unlikely to feature major breakthroughs on key issues like trade, U.S. relations with Taiwan or the war in Iran.

He arrived at an elaborate welcome ceremony on Wednesday night, and his motorcade rolled past a series of American and Chinese flags, as well as skyscrapers lit with Chinese characters reading “Beijing Welcome.” The Republican president headed to his hotel afterward and had no public events.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to meet Trump during a ceremony on Thursday at the Great Hall of the People, a hub for legislative action by the communist government and a center for key cultural and social events on the Western side of Tiananmen Square.

They will have a bilateral meeting before Trump visits the Temple of Heaven — a religious complex dating to the 15th century that symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth. Trump and Xi will also attend a state banquet.

On Friday, Trump and Xi are planning a working tea and lunch.

The White House has insisted that Trump wouldn’t be making the trip without an eye toward securing results before he leaves — suggesting that there could be announcements coming on trade, including a Chinese commitment to buy U.S. soybeans, beef and aircraft. Trump administration officials also want to work toward establishing a Board of Trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries.

But neither side has yet offered concrete details on what might come out of the three-day visit at a time when Beijing’s close economic ties to Iran could complicate matters.

Economic questions follow Trump to China

The president’s Beijing swing comes as Iran continues to dominate his domestic agenda and stoke fears about the prospect of a weakening U.S. economy as the election season ahead of November’s midterms — when Republicans will be looking to maintain control of Congress — begins heating up.

The U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike, threatening global economic growth.

Spending so much time with Xi — especially against splendiferous backdrops — will afford ample time for Trump to discuss a series of thorny topics. Those include Iran and trade, but also Taiwan and a possible three-way nuclear arms deal featuring Washington, Beijing and Russia.

Still, progress beyond pleasantries — and lots of praise between Trump and Xi, who have spent years effusively complimenting each other publicly — might prove elusive.

“Neither side will make much progress on the two major foreign policy issues,” predicted Jim Lewis, a tech policy fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. “Trump will press the Chinese to help him on Iran. They’ll be unwilling. The Chinese will press Trump to make concessions on Taiwan. We’ll see what we get out of that.”