US President Donald Trump has greeted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with a military flyover and 100ft (30m) red carpet to kick off their three-day summit in Washington.
In a rare move, Trump met China’s premier at the airport as the US Air Force band marched on the tarmac and US and Chinese flags flew.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening in Maryland.
The high-stakes visit – Xi’s first trip to Washington since 2015 – is expected to include closed-door meetings, a state dinner, and plenty to discuss, from AI, to the Iran war and Taiwan, and an extended trade truce.
The leader of China’s Communist Party touched down in an Air China plane at 17:39 local time (22:39 BST). The colour and honour guard marched up to the aircraft and stood on both sides of the red carpet as two limos pulled up.
Xi and Peng exited their plane and the two couples shook hands. They spoke briefly before walking side by side down the red carpet and posing for photos.
Two B-1s flew over as the Army Air Force Band played the US national anthem. The supersonic aircraft are a key part of the US’s combat arsenal.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two couples departed in separate vehicles to Washington.
This is the first time since 1962 that a US president has personally welcomed a foreign leader at the base, signalling the importance that Trump is giving this visit.
In 1962, then-President John F Kennedy greeted British PM Harold Macmillan.
Also on Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US and China will extend their trade truce to January. The agreement, which saw Trump lower tariff rates on some goods in exchange for Xi loosening restrictions on rare earth minerals, was set to expire 10 November.
Bessent, who spoke after meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, said the two discussed if there can eventually be a more substantive trade deal between the two countries.
EPAIn a written statement published by China’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi said both China and the US are “great nations, and their people are great people”.
“The two countries should be partners rather than rivals,” he said.
Melania Trump has said she has been involved intimately with the planning of the itinerary. She told Fox News that Trump made the decision to personally greet Xi himself at the airport “because they have a great relationship”.
Xi is accompanied on the visit by Cai Qi, a member of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee who’s widely seen as his right-hand man, vice premier He Lifeng, foreign minister Wang Yi, as well as other delegates and ambassadors from Beijing.
“Realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can fully coexist, reinforce each other and benefit the world,” Xi said in the statement carried by Xinhua, where he also expressed confident that the visit would “yield fruitful results”.
It is unclear if Xi has brought any business executives with him. Bringing Chinese firms to the US may also raise questions about Chinese business practices, subsidies and overcapacity, all of which may draw more fire and questions than Xi or his party would like.
During Trump’s visit to Beijing in May, he was accompanied by a group of tech executives from some of the largest US firms, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.
Leaders of US AI companies are slated to attend the lavish state dinner set for Thursday. Xi’s visit will end on Friday.
Trump has dismissed recent warnings about the potential dangers of AI from within the industry as a “hoax” and both countries are racing to try to achieve dominance in the sector.
ReutersTrump will aim to achieve other deals around trade and tariffs – like lowering Chinese tariffs on American products, increasing imports of Chinese rare earth minerals, and increasing exports of US agricultural products, according to David Firestein of the Bush China Foundation.
But China appears have reneged on promises to buy more American agricultural products and to sell more rare earth minerals to the US.
Firestein expects Xi to encourage Trump to further stall – or kill – a congressionally approved $14bn (£10.5bn)-arms sale to Taiwan and deepen US-China trade integration.
These are the same US-China issues for the ages, he said, but, this time, “there seems to be a greater degree of, let’s say, stability within the relationship, or less volatility relative to where we were last year in 2025”.
White House rolling out red carpet for historic Xi Jinping visit
Xi’s visit comes at a time when American attitudes towards China appear to be warming.
A recent poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs indicated that 41% of Americans see China’s territorial ambitions as a threat to the US. That number is down from 52% in 2022.
More than half of Americans – 57% – believe the US should cooperate and engage with Beijing. Notably, that statistic cuts across the US political spectrum.
Of Republicans who do not identify as Maga, 57% favour cooperation, as do most Democrats, both moderate and liberal.
However most of Trump’s loyal base – 63% – favour limiting US relations with China, putting them at odds with his warm welcome of Xi.
Aside from the arrival ceremonies at the White House, Melania Trump has also planned a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art to show her Chinese counterpart the cultural connections between the two countries.
The landmark visit will end on a historical note at the National Archives building where the couples will view important records including those of “significant to the American and Chinese relationship,” the White House has said.
With additional reporting from Brandon Drenon
