Xi Jinping to Begin Three-Day US State Visit With Trump Summit
Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on September 23 for a three-day state visit featuring a summit with Donald Trump, a state dinner and a National Archives tour.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington on Wednesday for a three-day state visit that includes his second summit with US President Donald Trump in under six months. Xi will be accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan, senior official Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Trump is preparing an elaborate welcome for Xi's first US visit in nearly three years and his first White House visit in more than a decade, with an airport arrival ceremony, White House meetings, a state dinner and a trip to the National Archives.
Wednesday: Arrival at Joint Base Andrews
Xi and Peng are due to land at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday evening. Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel to the military base to greet the Chinese president and his wife on the tarmac, with the arrival scheduled for 6 pm local time. The two leaders are also expected to take part in an arrival ceremony.
Thursday: Bilateral talks and state dinner
Thursday is expected to be the centrepiece of the visit. Trump will welcome Xi and Peng at the White House before the two presidents move to the Rose Garden for a military review and their bilateral meeting. Melania Trump and Peng are expected to attend a separate event in the Washington area.
The talks are expected to cover US-China trade and tariffs, artificial intelligence and technology, rare-earth minerals, Iran and the Middle East, the Russia-Ukraine war, military-to-military ties and US arms sales to Taiwan. Washington and Beijing are negotiating a reciprocal tariff reduction framework covering products worth about $30 billion from each side.
On Thursday evening, Trump and Melania will host Xi and Peng for a state dinner in the East Room. Prominent technology and business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, are expected to attend. Both presidents are expected to speak at the start of the dinner.
Friday: Tea, National Archives and departure
Xi's final day will follow a more ceremonial schedule. Trump and Melania will host Xi and Peng for private tea at the White House before the two couples travel to the National Archives, where they are expected to view historic US founding documents including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Xi and Peng will then return to Joint Base Andrews for their departure from the United States.
Key issues on the table
The summit comes as Washington and Beijing remain divided on several major issues. On trade, the two sides are negotiating tariff reductions while China's dominance of rare-earth supplies remains a key source of economic leverage. AI is expected to feature prominently as the two countries compete for technological leadership, with the possibility of discussions on cooperation over AI risks, though expectations of a major agreement are low.
Xi is expected to press Trump over US arms sales to Taiwan, which China has strongly opposed, including a reported $11 billion package for Taipei. The Iran-US conflict is also expected to come up given Beijing's close ties with Tehran and China's role in the global oil market. On Ukraine, Trump is expected to urge Xi to use Beijing's relationship with Moscow to encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.