US President Donald Trump greeted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with a bomber flyover and a 30-metre red carpet before the start of their three-day summit in Washington.
Trump personally met the Chinese leader at the airport, where the US Air Force marching band marched across the tarmac and American and Chinese flags waved.
The US President and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland late Wednesday.
Xi's first trip to Washington since 2015 is expected to include closed-door meetings, a state dinner and a range of topics to be discussed, from artificial intelligence to war with Iran and Taiwan and an extension of the trade truce.
The leader of the Chinese Communist Party landed on an Air China plane at 17:39 local time (00:39 Moscow time). The honor guard walked up to the plane and lined up on either side of the red carpet as two limousines pulled up to the ramp.
Xi and Peng left the plane, after which the two couples shook hands. They chatted briefly before walking down the red carpet side by side and posing for photos.
Two B-1 bombers flew over the base while the band played the US national anthem. These supersonic aircraft are an important part of the American military arsenal.
After exchanging pleasantries, both couples headed to Washington in separate cars.
The meeting of a foreign leader at the airport by the US President is the first such case in 11 years. The last time such honors were given to Pope Francis was in 2015 during the presidency of Barack Obama. And before that, in 1962, President John Kennedy met British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already announced that the US and China will extend the trade truce until January. The agreement, under which Trump cut tariffs on some goods in exchange for Xi easing restrictions on the supply of rare earth minerals, was due to expire on November 10.
Bessent, speaking after a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, said the parties also discussed the possibility of concluding a more meaningful trade agreement in the future.
In a written statement published by China's state news agency Xinhua, Xi said both China and the United States are "great nations and their people are great nations."
“The two countries should be partners, not rivals,” he said.
Melania Trump said that she was directly involved in planning the visit program. In an interview with Fox News, she said Trump decided to personally meet Xi at the airport "because they have a great relationship."
Xi is accompanied by Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi, widely considered his right-hand man, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and other delegates from Beijing.
"Carrying out the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the rejuvenation of America's greatness can fully coexist, strengthen each other and benefit the world," Xi said in a statement carried by Xinhua, where he also expressed confidence that the visit would "bring fruitful results."
It is unclear whether Xi brought business representatives with him. The presence of Chinese companies in the US could also raise questions about Chinese business practices, subsidies and excess production capacity, all of which could lead to more criticism and more questions than Xi and his party would like.
During Trump's visit to Beijing in May, he was accompanied by a group of technology executives from some of America's biggest firms, including Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla's Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang.
CEOs of US artificial intelligence companies are expected to attend a lavish state dinner scheduled for Thursday. Xi's visit ends on Friday.
Trump has dismissed recent industry warnings about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence as a “hoax,” with both countries seeking dominance in the sector.
Trump will seek other trade and tariff agreements, including lowering Chinese tariffs on American goods, increasing imports of Chinese rare earth minerals and boosting American agricultural exports, according to David Firestein of the Bush China Foundation.
However, China appears to have abandoned promises to increase purchases of American agricultural products and increase supplies of rare earth minerals to the United States.
Firestein expects Xi to urge Trump to further delay or abandon a $14 billion congressionally approved arms deal with Taiwan and deepen trade integration between the United States and China.
These are the same long-term issues in the U.S.-China relationship, he said, but this time "there appears to be a greater degree of, shall we say, stability in the relationship or less volatility compared to where we were last year in 2025."
Xi's visit comes at a time when American attitudes toward China appear to be becoming more favorable. A recent Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll found that 41% of Americans consider China's territorial ambitions a threat to the United States. This is down from 52% in 2022.
