Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on a state visit, his first in 11 years. It is his first state visit to the United States since 2015, during Barack Obama's presidency.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, landed in Washington aboard a state aircraft on the 23rd, U.S. Eastern time, where U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump gave them a warm welcome, Xinhua News Agency reported on the 24th. Trump said he was very pleased to welcome Xi and Peng to Washington and called the trip a visit the whole world is watching. He described Xi as a great leader and said this was a great moment, adding that he looked forward to an in-depth exchange of views with Xi and to advancing relations between the two countries.
In written remarks, Xi said that both China and the United States are great nations and that the Chinese and American peoples are both great peoples. He said the two sides should put cooperation first, keep competition within bounds and work to keep their differences manageable, and should build a stable relationship that offers hope for peace.
Xi's delegation includes Cai Qi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission and foreign minister. Xi begins his official schedule at midday on the 24th, holding a summit with Trump at the White House before a state dinner in honor of Xi and his wife that evening. His three-day trip runs through the 25th.
It is the third meeting between the two leaders since the start of Trump's second term, following talks in Busan in October last year and in Beijing in May. The trip is a reciprocal visit for Trump's own travel to China in mid-May, bringing the leaders of the two countries locked in a contest for global primacy face to face after four months. Many observers expect the two to focus on stable management of the relationship rather than any dramatic agreement.
The talks are expected to center on building personal rapport and extending the "trade truce" reached after last year's tariff war, rather than on resolving their conflicts outright. Attention will also turn to whether the two sides can agree on at least minimal safeguards in artificial intelligence, as warnings about existential risk and calls to slow development have gained traction in the AI industry.
