China’s leader Xi Jinping is expected to hold highly anticipated talks with United States President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday, as both sides seek to ease trade tensions and discuss increasingly capable artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
On Wednesday evening, Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with a rare red carpet welcome. No US president had previously welcomed a visiting guest personally at the base in six decades.
Earlier in the day, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported that Xi and Peng were being accompanied by the president’s closest aide and adviser, Cai Qi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The White House said the talks scheduled for Thursday would mark “a significant milestone in the relationship between the two countries”.
But the state visit – Xi’s first to the US in more than a decade – is likely to touch on multiple points of tension, including the US-Israel war on Iran, the fallout from Trump’s tariffs and the threat of war over the island of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
What is XI’s schedule in Washington?
Trump met Xi on his arrival at Joint Base Andrews. But the main event is on Thursday morning, when Xi will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House, accompanied by a military flyover and nearly 500 military personnel.
After the two leaders hold talks during the day, Trump will host a state dinner for Xi at the White House. This event is expected to include chiefs of companies important in both markets, such as Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
The visit will wrap up on Friday morning when the two presidential couples will have tea at the White House and then visit the National Archives to round off the trip.
Instead of a joint news conference or statement at the end, the countries are expected to issue separate announcements highlighting what each side hopes to convey to its own domestic audience.
What’s on the agenda for the talks?
Before the main meeting on Thursday, the two sides have already walked away from an imminent cliff: their current 11-month trade truce was set to expire in November, but has now been extended until January 10, giving their negotiating teams more time to hammer out a broader deal.
The US-Israel war on Iran is also likely to feature prominently in the discussions. Beijing has maintained close ties with Tehran, but it is unclear whether a meeting with Xi will do anything to help Trump break the ongoing deadlock in the conflict. Washington may hope that Beijing could use its influence over Tehran, observers say, but Trump has so far maintained he sees no need to seek China’s help.
The two countries are also likely to talk more about the race to develop AI, as they are in fierce competition but mindful of growing dangers. The US has proposed a new “notification mechanism” with China to alert each other of any AI incident serious enough to threaten national security.
China is also expected to raise the issue of Taiwan. In December, the Trump administration approved an $11bn arms sale to Taiwan, the largest ever, but a second package, worth some $14bn, has been on hold for months. Trump has described the arms sales as a “very good negotiating chip”.
Trump is also expected to seek the release of some Americans and others imprisoned in China, after securing the July release of Pastor Ezra Jin, a Chinese national jailed as part of the 2025 crackdown on underground churches in China. Trump had raised the pastor’s case with Xi in May.
What are relations between Trump and Xi like?
Trump’s decision to greet Xi personally upon arrival shows how far the US president is going to honour China’s leader, observers say. During a TV interview, Melania Trump said her husband had decided to greet Xi because they “have a great relationship”.
“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife during the interview with Fox News.
Despite the conciliatory tones, however, the two leaders’ ties have been strained by a trade war that began shortly after Trump returned to office for a second presidential term in January 2025.
The US president imposed a 10 percent duty on Chinese goods over fentanyl and immigration concerns, while China responded with levies on US coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil and autos, and curbs on exports of five rare-earth metals that are essential for the manufacture of defence equipment and clean energy.
Both sides escalated rapidly, with tariffs reaching triple digits and Beijing also warning its citizens against US travel. China also threatened to impose curbs on the export of seven more rare-earth metals late last year.
That was put on hold when Trump and Xi struck a trade truce following talks in South Korea in October 2025. When the US president travelled to China in May this year, they announced plans to create a Board of Trade and Investment, while Xi agreed to purchases of Boeing jets and US farm products.
But Trump has since imposed new 12.5 percent tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, including China, over allegations that those countries failed to curb imports made by forced labour.
Why does this summit matter?
Thursday’s meeting at the White House marks the two leaders’ third in-person meeting in a little less than a year amid what has been described as a reprieve in hostilities.
Both sides continue to test one another while avoiding an escalation. During Trump’s state visit, the two sides agreed to “a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability”, a diplomatic framework often referred to as “constructive strategic stability”.
The meeting will prove a further test of whether such a posture can hold in light of each side’s competing interests.
This balancing act could yield deals to reduce tariffs in specific sectors, cooperate on drug trafficking, and expand military-to-military dialogue.
It could also set the course for steady, long-term development of bilateral relations and confirm cooperation as the mainstay.
