Trump hails 'truly great friendship' with Xi as Chinese leader begins state visit

President Donald Trump hailed a “truly great friendship” with Xi Jinping in Washington as the Chinese leader began a state visit. The two leaders opened talks amid major disputes over trade, Taiwan, Iran and artificial intelligence. They also had agreed the previous day to extend a one-year trade truce by two months. Xi said competition should stay within bounds and announced plans for American youth exchanges and two pandas for Atlanta.

Trump said he and Xi have forged a friendship built on mutual respect and the vital interests of their people since his first election in 2016.

The United States and China agreed on Wednesday to extend a one-year trade truce by two months after it was set to expire on Nov. 10.

Xi said China will invite 100,000 American youth for studies and exchanges over the next five years and will send two pandas to the zoo in Atlanta.

Trump said artificial intelligence would be high on the agenda, while Xi said the two countries should ensure AI remains under human control.

China wants Trump to permanently halt arms sales to Taiwan and loosen export restrictions on advanced chips.

Published Sep 25, 2026 12:50 am KST

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and China's President Xi Jinping meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, in Washington. AP-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the “truly great friendship” he has forged with Xi Jinping as the Chinese leader began his highly anticipated state visit.

While Trump has many thorny issues to discuss with the president of America’s biggest economic rival, he focused on his long relationship with Xi as the two gathered with aides for opening remarks before formal talks.

“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.

Trump and Xi have no shortage of difficult issues to cover when they sit down for the private discussions.

Xi speaks of a ‘healthy’ competition and says Chinese pandas are coming to Atlanta

China has resisted the Trump administration's urgings — and economic threats — to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the nearly seven-month war. Xi wants to see Trump permanently halt arms sales to Taiwan and loosen export restrictions on cutting-edge advanced chips. The two sides on Wednesday agreed to extend by two months a one-year trade truce that was set to expire Nov. 10 as they work to find a more durable agreement.

Xi said in his remarks upon arriving that the “competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within bounds."

“It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which one either wins or loses,” Xi added.

Xi also announced that China will invite 100,000 American youth to come to his country for studies and exchanges in the next five years and that China will send two pandas to the zoo in Atlanta. He called the beloved animals an “envoy of friendship.”

Xi says China and US should make sure AI is ‘always under human control’

All the while, both leaders seem to believe that time is on their side as they look to outmaneuver the other in what is expected to be the world's most significant economic and national security competition for years to come.

Trump said in a social media post earlier Thursday that artificial intelligence — “superintelligence” as he is trying to rebrand it — will be high on the agenda amid growing global anxiety that the technology will kill jobs or potentially even wipe out humanity.

“I want to leave it exactly where it is,” Trump wrote. “That is China’s position also.”

Xi also touched on AI in his opening comments, saying that the two countries had a responsibility to ensure that humans always operate AI.

“We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that a development of AI is always under human control and serves the well being of the people,” the Chinese leader said.

The two countries’ finance ministers met earlier this week, with the U.S. proposing a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents between the two nations.

Trump rolls out the red carpet for Xi and faces criticism from some White House allies

Trump has made clear he wants to impress Xi with the visit. The Republican president made sure construction of a new helicopter landing pad on the White House's South Lawn was completed before the visit and he met Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on Wednesday evening when they flew into Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

Trump has lamented about his planned White House ballroom not being ready for the state dinner in Xi's honor on Thursday evening.

That black-tie event will be held in the White House East Room, featuring a décor that “draws on the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history,” according to first lady Melania Trump.

Dinner will begin with a toast honoring the historic “Toast to Peace” between President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1972.

The guest list includes Amazon's Jeff Bezos , Nvidia's Jensen Huang , and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg , among other tech titans staking out positions on whether more safeguards are needed in the race to develop artificial intelligence.

But Trump's decision to roll out the red carpet for Xi has spurred criticism from lawmakers in both parties and some White House allies.

“Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

US and China still have work to do on trade truce

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump and Xi may be open to a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents that could affect national security. But on AI and a host of other thorny issues, it remains unclear whether the leaders can make progress.

Shortly after Xi's arrival in Washington, Bessent announced on Fox News that the two sides had come to terms on extending the trade truce. He said it was possible that Trump and Xi could come to a larger agreement by January or just decide to once again extend it further.

Trump and Xi have incentive to keep the truce alive.

Trump's Republican Party is facing headwinds as they try to maintain control of Congress in November's midterm elections and can hardly afford further economic disruption. Meanwhile, Xi is navigating an uneven Chinese economy — one in which its domestic economy is struggling while its high tech exports remain strong.

Peak baseline U.S. tariffs reached 145 percent during last year's trade battle — matched by China’s reciprocal levies of 125 percent. After Trump and Xi met in South Korea last year , the average U.S. tariff rate fell to roughly 47 percent, while China charged an average in the mid-30s. But in February, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned many of Trump’s tariffs, causing the taxes on Chinese goods to have more variation.

The stopgap announced by Bessent was shorter than what both sides had suggested in recent weeks. The Chinese had indicated that they wanted to see it extended until the end of Trump's term in January 2029.

Meanwhile, Trump administration officials had suggested a three- to six-month extension as a more appropriate time frame because China has been slow to fulfill past commitments on rare earth exports as well as imports of U.S. soybeans and aircraft.

A breakthrough on Iran seems unlikely

Trump has argued to little effect that China, which is far more dependent on Gulf oil than the U.S., has plenty of incentive to use its sway with Tehran to help force an end to the conflict.

But Trump's war of choice has unnerved Beijing, with the government condemning the U.S. and Israeli military action and Xi expressing concerns the conflict signaled a return to what he called the “law of the jungle."

The Chinese were also unsettled by the military operation Trump ordered to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power and bring him to New York City to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Xi expected to press Trump to end Taiwan arms sales

China has made clear it views Taiwan as the most sensitive issue in the U.S.-China relationship.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be Chinese territory and vows to annex the island by force if necessary. The U.S. is obligated by law to provide Taiwan with sufficient hardware to deter any armed attack from the mainland.

China has pressed Washington to permanently halt the arms sales , most prominently when Trump and Xi met in Beijing in May.

After that meeting, Trump said he was holding off on final approval for a record-breaking $14 billion arms package that was in the pipeline. He also described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿盛赞与中国国家主席习近平的“伟大友谊”，习近平主席此次对美进行国事访问。两国领导人在贸易、台湾、伊朗和人工智能等重大分歧的背景下展开会谈。此前一天，双方还同意将为期一年的贸易休战期延长两个月。习近平表示，竞争应适度，并宣布了美中青年交流计划以及向亚特兰大引进两只大熊猫的计划。

特朗普表示，自他2016年首次当选以来，他和习近平建立了基于相互尊重和两国人民切身利益的友谊。

美国和中国周三同意将为期一年的贸易休战期延长两个月，该休战期原定于11月10日到期。

习近平表示，未来五年中国将邀请10万名美国青年来华学习交流，并将向亚特兰大动物园赠送两只熊猫。

特朗普表示人工智能将是两国议程上的重要议题，而习近平则表示，两国应确保人工智能始终处于人类的控制之下。

中国希望特朗普永久停止对台军售，并放宽对先进芯片的出口限制。

发布于2026年9月25日凌晨12:50（韩国标准时间）

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普（右）和中国国家主席习近平周四在华盛顿白宫椭圆形办公室会晤。美联社-韩联社

华盛顿——周四，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普盛赞他与中国领导人习近平建立的“真正伟大的友谊”，此时中国领导人习近平开始了备受瞩目的国事访问。

尽管特朗普与美国最大经济对手的总统有很多棘手的问题需要讨论，但在正式会谈前，他和习近平与助手们一起发表开幕致辞时，他主要谈到了自己与习近平的长期关系。

特朗普说：“自从我2016年第一次当选以来，我和习近平主席就建立了友谊，一段真正伟大的友谊，这段友谊建立在相互尊重和我们两国人民的切身利益之上。”

特朗普和习近平在进行私人会谈时，有很多棘手的问题需要讨论。

习近平谈到“良性”竞争，并表示中国大熊猫将来到亚特兰大。

中国一直抵制特朗普政府的敦促——以及经济威胁——即利用其强大的影响力迫使伊朗接受美国提出的结束这场持续近七个月战争的条件。习近平希望特朗普永久停止对台军售，并放宽对尖端芯片的出口限制。周三，双方同意将原定于11月10日到期的为期一年的贸易休战期延长两个月，以便双方寻求达成更持久的协议。

习近平在抵达时发表讲话说，“竞争应该是良性的，应该控制在合理的范围内”。

“这应该是一场相互追赶的竞赛，而不是一场非胜即负的较量，”习近平补充道。

习近平还宣布，未来五年中国将邀请10万名美国青年来华学习和交流，并将向亚特兰大动物园赠送两只大熊猫。他称这些深受喜爱的动物为“友谊的使者”。

习近平表示，中美两国应确保人工智能“始终处于人类控制之下”。

与此同时，两位领导人似乎都认为时间站在自己这边，他们希望在未来几年内这场预计将是世界上最重要的经济和国家安全竞争中胜过对方。

特朗普周四早些时候在社交媒体上发帖称，人工智能——他正试图将其重新命名为“超级智能”——将成为议程上的重要议题，因为全球越来越担心这项技术会扼杀就业，甚至有可能毁灭人类。

“我希望它保持现状，”特朗普写道。“这也是中国的立场。”

习近平在开幕致辞中也谈到了人工智能，表示中美两国有责任确保人工智能始终由人来操作。

“我们有能力也有责任开发和管理人工智能造福人类，并确保人工智能的发展始终处于人类的控制之下，服务于人民的福祉，”这位中国领导人说。

两国财长本周早些时候举行了会晤，美国提议建立两国之间人工智能事件的新“通报机制”。

特朗普对习近平举行盛大访问，但遭到部分白宫盟友的批评。

特朗普已明确表示，他希望通过此次访问给习近平留下深刻印象。这位共和党总统确保在访问前完成白宫南草坪新建直升机停机坪的建设，并在周三晚间习近平及其夫人彭丽媛飞抵华盛顿郊外的安德鲁斯联合基地时与他们会面。

特朗普抱怨说，他计划在周四晚上为习近平举行的国宴，白宫宴会厅还没准备好。

据第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普称，这场盛大的晚宴将在白宫东厅举行，其装饰“借鉴了红色在中国历史上悠久的文化意义”。

晚宴将以祝酒词开始，以纪念1972年美国总统理查德·尼克松和中国总理周恩来在北京进行的历史性的“和平祝酒”。

出席嘉宾包括亚马逊的杰夫·贝佐斯、英伟达的黄仁勋和 Meta 的马克·扎克伯格等科技巨头，他们都在就人工智能开发竞赛中是否需要更多保障措施表明立场。

但特朗普决定为习近平铺设红地毯的做法，引发了两党议员和一些白宫盟友的批评。

“坦白地说，如果白宫征求我的意见，我会建议总统不要邀请习近平主席来华盛顿，在美国受到如此盛大的欢迎，因为我们与习近平主席和中国共产党之间存在着诸多令人不安的问题，”密西西比州共和党参议员罗杰·威克尔说道。

美国和中国在贸易休战方面仍有许多工作要做。

美国财政部长斯科特·贝森特表示，特朗普和习近平可能对建立一套新的“通报机制”持开放态度，以应对可能影响国家安全的AI事件。但在AI以及其他一系列棘手问题上，两国领导人能否取得进展仍不明朗。

习近平抵达华盛顿后不久，贝森特在福克斯新闻上宣布，双方已就延长贸易休战达成一致。他表示，特朗普和习近平有可能在明年1月达成一项更广泛的协议，或者只是决定再次延长休战期。

特朗普和习近平都有动力维持停火协议。

特朗普领导的共和党在11月的中期选举中正面临重重阻力，力图保住国会控制权，而且几乎无法承受进一步的经济动荡。与此同时，习近平正努力应对中国经济的不平衡局面——国内经济步履维艰，而高科技出口依然强劲。

去年贸易战期间，美国对华关税最高达到145%，中国则采取了125%的对等加征。去年特朗普和习近平在韩国会晤后，美国平均关税税率降至约47%，而中国则降至30%左右。但今年2月，美国最高法院推翻了特朗普的多项关税措施，导致对华商品的关税税率出现更大波动。

贝森特宣布的临时协议期限比双方近几周提出的方案要短。中方曾表示希望将协议延长至特朗普2029年1月任期结束。

与此同时，特朗普政府官员建议将期限延长三到六个月，因为中国在稀土出口以及美国大豆和飞机进口方面一直未能履行过去的承诺，这才是更合适的期限。

在伊朗问题上取得突破似乎不太可能

特朗普曾辩称，中国比美国更依赖海湾石油，因此有足够的动机利用其对德黑兰的影响力来帮助结束冲突，但他的论点收效甚微。

但特朗普选择的这场战争令北京感到不安，中国政府谴责了美国和以色列的军事行动，习近平也表示担忧，认为这场冲突标志着回归他所谓的“丛林法则”。

特朗普下令军事行动，将委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗赶下台，并将其带到纽约市，面临联邦毒品恐怖主义和毒品走私指控，这令中国人感到不安。

习近平预计将向特朗普施压，要求其停止向台湾出售武器。

中国已明确表示，台湾问题是中美关系中最敏感的问题。

北京视台湾为中国领土，并誓言必要时将以武力吞并该岛。美国依法有义务向台湾提供足够的武器装备，以威慑来自大陆的任何武装攻击。

中国一直敦促华盛顿永久停止对华武器销售，最引人注目的是特朗普和习近平在5月于北京会晤时。

会后，特朗普表示，他将暂缓最终批准一项价值140亿美元的破纪录军售计划。他还称，对台军售是与中国谈判的“非常有效的筹码”。