Trump welcomes China's Xi for high-stakes summit

The main summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is scheduled for Thursday.

There's a state dinner as well in the evening, with both leaders expected to deliver speeches.

Top US tech executives are expected to attend the dinner, suggesting that artificial intelligence will likely be a big topic of discussion.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for cooperation with the United States, Beijing's state news agency Xinhua reported. 

"Our two countries should be partners rather than rivals," Xi said in a written statement ran by Xinhua.

"The Chinese and US peoples have enjoyed long-standing friendly exchanges, and our interests are deeply intertwined," Xi added. 

Xi was welcomed in Washington with red carpet and military flyover. 

In remarks published by Xinhua, Xi also said he looked forward to "in-depth exchanges" with Trump on "major issues concerning our bilateral relations and the global situation."

China's President Xi Jinping has arrived in Washington to a rare planeside welcome from his US counterpart, Donald Trump. 

As Xi walked down a long red carpet on the airport tarmac, a White House spokesperson said that Trump believes Hong Kongdemocracy advocate Jimmy Lai should be released from prison and "wants to see that happen,"  DPA news agency reported.

"The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole," DPA quoted the spokesperson as saying. 

Lai, a 78-year-old media tycoon, was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier in the year under the National Security Law that China imposed in 2020 following massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. 

At a congressional hearing in Washington last week, Lai's son, Sebastien, repeated his appeal for his father's release.

Trump had earlier raised Lai's release when he met Xi in Beijing in May, but the US leader said he was told by the Chinese president that Lai's case "would be a tough one."

On Tuesday, US outlet Politico reported that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has asked Trump to discuss the release of Lai, who is a British citizen, with Xi. 

The US and China have agreed to extend their trade truce by two months, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The announcement came as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a meeting with US counterpart Donald Trump.

"We have agreed today that we will extend what we call the Busan Agreement, the economic detente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on November 10th," Bessent told Fox News.

The extension of the one-year trade truce buys both sides more time to negotiate. 

ChinesePresident Xi Jinping's plane landed in Washington for his state visit to the US, which will include a meeting with  Donald Trump on Thursday.

Unlike with other leaders, Trump honored Xi by welcoming him at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington rather than waiting for him at the White House.

The greeting, which included a red carpet lined by US service members and a military flyover, kicks off the Chinese leader's three-day visit to Washington.

Additional fanfare during the trip is due to include a state dinner with tech luminaries, and a visit to the National Archives, where the original Declaration of Independence and Constitution are housed.

Expectations for a breakthrough during Xi's visit were slim.

Despite their deep disagreements, the two world leaders went ahead with their summit that analysts say is meant to project stability on the world stage.

The issues the two will discuss are expected to include trade, artificial intelligence as well as the wars in Iran and Ukraine. 

Xi is also likely to press Trump on Taiwan, a topic Washington would prefer to avoid, while Trump was likely to maintain firm US export controls despite Xi's objections.

We are launching our coverage of the highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President X Jinping in Washington.

Trade, the wars in Iran and Ukraine, and artificial intelligence are expected to be on the agenda as the two leaders discuss the topics on Thursday.

This is Xi's first state visit to Washington in a decade.

Join us for updates from Xi's trip.