No grand deal expected from Xi’s US visit as China seeks ‘strategic stability’: Analysts - CNA
The visit will be Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the United States in more than a decade.
US President Donald Trump (left) poses for photos with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, on May 15, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Pool/Evan Vucci)
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Olivia Siong & Olivia Chang 23 Sep 2026 06:03PM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST WASHINGTON: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to the United States is unlikely to produce a sweeping agreement between the two powers, with analysts instead expecting Beijing to focus on putting more substance behind a framework aimed at managing their long-term rivalry.
Xi and Trump are expected to hold talks in Washington on Thursday (Sep 24), their second summit this year following Trump’s state visit to Beijing in May.
Trade and tariffs, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the war in Iran are among the issues expected to feature in their discussions.
The visit will be Xi’s first state visit to the US in more than a decade. His first and only state visit was in 2015, three years after he took over as China’s top leader.
That visit took place during Barack Obama’s presidency, and produced 49 outcomes and areas of consensus spanning trade and investment, climate change and cybersecurity. Then, Beijing had hailed it as taking “cross-Pacific cooperation” to a new stage.
More than a decade later, analysts say the ambition for such a visit is different.
CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Members of the United States military rehearse for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official visit to the White House, in Washington DC, Sep 16, 2026. (Photo: Getty Images via AFP/Chip Somodevilla) The Communist Party’s flagship newspaper said the two leaders would provide “strategic guidance” on developing a stable relationship, building on the concept of “constructive strategic stability” introduced during Trump’s visit to Beijing in May.
“I think from Beijing's perspective, this visit is not about restoring the kind of relationship China and the US had in, for example, 2015,” said Zichen Wang, deputy secretary-general of the non-government think tank Centre for China and Globalization.
“That era is over. The more realistic objective is to consolidate a framework of strategic stability,” said Wang, who is also the founder of the newsletter Pekingnology.
