United States President, Donald Trump, has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington with a red-carpet ceremony and military flyover as the two leaders begin a three-day summit expected to focus on trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the Iran war.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump received Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday evening, in a rare gesture that saw the US president personally welcome a foreign leader at the military base.
Xi arrived aboard an Air China aircraft at about 5:39pm local time, where a colour and honour guard was positioned alongside a 100ft red carpet.
The US Air Force band performed as two B-1 bombers flew over the base before the two couples exchanged greetings and posed for photographs.
The visit marks Xi’s first trip to Washington since 2015 and is expected to feature closed-door discussions, a state dinner and negotiations over a range of sensitive issues between the world’s two largest economies.
The ceremony came shortly after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend their trade truce until January.
The arrangement had been due to expire on November 10 and included lower US tariffs on some Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing easing restrictions on rare earth minerals.
In a statement carried by China’s state news agency, Xinhua, Xi said, “The two countries should be partners rather than rivals,” while describing China and the United States as “great nations, and their people are great people”.
Xi also said, “Realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can fully coexist, reinforce each other and benefit the world,” expressing confidence that the visit would produce positive outcomes.
Trump is expected to seek further agreements on trade and tariffs, including increased Chinese purchases of American agricultural products and greater exports of rare earth minerals to the United States.
However, some of the previous commitments between Washington and Beijing have not been fully implemented. Xi is also expected to raise China’s concerns over a $14bn US arms sale to Taiwan that has been approved by Congress.
The Chinese president is accompanied by senior officials including Cai Qi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, Vice Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Meanwhile, leaders of major US artificial intelligence companies are expected to attend a state dinner on Thursday, with AI competition between Washington and Beijing likely to feature prominently during the summit.
Xi’s visit will end on Friday after further engagements, including a visit by the two first ladies to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art and a trip by the two couples to the National Archives.
