Trump hosts Xi for visit, China announces new partnerships for U.S.

President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House Thursday for a state visit, where they were set to discuss the race to dominate the growth of artificial intelligence, while announcing new partnerships on trade and pandas.

It’s Xi’s second visit to the United States to meet with Trump after a 2017 trip to the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump participated in his first state visit to China later that year, and completed his second trip to Beijing for a high-stakes summit in May 2026.

Trump welcomed Xi to Washington with a rare planeside ceremony after top officials from both countries agreed they would extend a trade truce until January.

While tensions have flared between the two countries over trade following Trump’s tariffs, much of Xi’s visit was expected to be more about pomp and circumstance than about making an agreement, particularly as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the truce Wednesday before the official visit began.

A red carpet was rolled out along the tarmac where Xi’s plane landed, accompanied by a 21-person honor guard, a military flyover and flags raised and anthems played for each country.

Trump touts relationship with China at White House ceremony

Trump and Xi participated in a ceremony on Thursday, speaking about the relationship between their countries and their plans going forward.

“From the time of my first election in 2016, President Xi and I have forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually, built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people,” Trump said. “We have spent time together all over the world, from Germany to Argentina, Japan to South Korea, and Beijing to Palm Beach, Florida. But remarkably, this is our first time meeting together here at the White House.”

Trump noted that Xi is the first Chinese leader to make a second formal visit to the United States. He said the visit comes at an important time for America with its 250th birthday.

The two leaders will go visit the National Archives on Friday to view some of the “greatest treasures” of U.S. history, Trump said, including the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They will also see artifacts that testify to the two countries’ relationship, the president said.

Who will win the AI race?

Trump highlighted how he and Xi successfully created a Board of Trade in May and U.S. and Chinese counterparts were working to “encourage a more balanced trading relationship.”

“During this visit, we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology and super intelligence,” Trump said, using his new term for artificial intelligence. “The decisions we make in these areas today can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades.”

The U.S. is locked in a race with China to maintain a lead in artificial intelligence development. During remarks earlier this week to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he was proposing a name change for AI.

He noted that artificial intelligence was being spoken of “so much now” and should instead be called “super intelligence.” Trump said the word “artificial” makes the intelligence sound fake.

“From this point forward, all of the United States’ documents — and hopefully the world’s — will be changed to use the much more accurate term ‘super’ as opposed to artificial,” Trump said during his speech in New York. “So, it’s super intelligence. In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence — S.I.”

Experts don’t expect much agreement to come from the two leaders’ meeting about the development and dominance of AI. The competition for the emerging technology likely won’t lead to some sort of large compromise between Trump and Xi, ABC News reported earlier this week.

Xi talks of cooperation, announces new programs for students, pandas

During his prepared remarks at the White House ceremony, Xi announced several new partnerships with the U.S. and said he was invited to the White House by Trump to “carry forward our friendship, expand cooperation, and enhance the well-being of our two peoples.”

Xi, through a translator, said he and Trump built upon a strategic relationship in their meeting earlier this year, and he looked forward to meeting with the U.S. president to continue that relationship for “steady and long-term progress.”

While Xi didn’t note Trump’s tariffs or the trade truce, he said the two countries must cooperate “sincerely.”

“Our interests are deeply intertwined, and there is vast room for cooperation,” he said.

Xi highlighted the competition between the two countries over artificial intelligence, saying they both are “major powers” in the sector. Xi said the two countries shouldn’t “shy away” from competition and they should “strive to excel alongside one another.”

“We are fully capable of finding the right way for two powers to coexist on this planet,” Xi said.

Xi also announced he would be gifting the U.S. two new giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, who would be arriving at the Atlanta zoo in the coming days.

It’s part of the Panda Diplomacy agreement between the U.S. and China. The Atlanta zoo hasn’t had pandas since 2024, when a previous deal with China expired. The program originally started in 1957 and has allowed pandas to reside in some U.S. zoos, including the San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, Xi announced that 100,000 American students would be invited to study in China over the next five years. He said the future of the U.S.-China relationship lies with its people and starts with the younger generation.

“Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand-in-hand,” Xi said.

Xi departed the White House midday Thursday after meeting with Trump in private before he and his wife, Madame Peng Liyuan, return to participate in a three-course state dinner, along with the Chinese and U.S. delegations, Thursday evening.