“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 as he and Xi delivered remarks in the White House.
Trump said he would discuss “pressing issues”, including artificial intelligence (AI), in talks with Xi.
“During this visit, we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and super intelligence — SI. The decisions we make in these areas today can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come,” Trump said.
In his remarks, Xi said that Washington and Beijing have a responsibility to “develop and manage AI for good”.
“We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control,” he said at the White House.
Trump had personally greeted Xi on the tarmac earlier, the first time in more than six decades that a US president has welcomed a foreign political leader at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.
He will lay on more pomp and ceremony on Thursday, treating his guest to talks in the Oval Office and finally a grand state banquet.
The state dinner will feature a host of top US tech and AI company bosses — although Xi’s delegation includes no chief executive officers (CEOs), sources told AFP.
AI is a key focus due to growing fears that it is out of control and even risks wiping out humanity as China and the US race for supremacy in the field.
Taiwan will also be on the cards, with Trump’s words likely to be watched for any sign of diminishing US support for the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory.
The programme includes a military inspection in the Rose Garden — which Trump recently paved over — and a gift-giving ceremony involving Trump’s wife Melania and Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan.
Xi’s visit will wrap up on Friday morning when the two presidential couples have tea at the White House and then visit the National Archives, home to the US Declaration of Independence.
Trump and Melania had met the Chinese presidential couple on a red carpet at Joint Base Andrews, before a military band played the national anthems and US bombers roared overhead.
“I thought it was a great little meeting, a great greeting, and I think they appreciate it,” Trump told reporters, brushing off the fact that Xi had not welcomed him at the airport for his Beijing state visit in May.
Earlier, the US president sought to set the agenda by saying that both sides agreed no new controls were needed on fast-evolving AI technology.
“Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is,” Trump said on social media, using his new moniker for artificial intelligence. “That is China’s position also.”
In another post, Trump said 73-year-old Xi looked “strong, vibrant, and fit”, following recent rumours about the Chinese leader’s health.
Xi urged cooperation in comments reported by Chinese state media shortly after his arrival, saying that China and the United States should be “partners rather than rivals”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday announced a two-month extension of a trade truce that was due to expire in November.
Both sides are keen to avoid plunging back into the trade war sparked by the US president’s sweeping global tariffs last year.
But while Trump, 80, boasts that he will get results from what he calls his “great relationship” with Xi, few breakthroughs are expected.
Instead, their third meeting since Trump returned to power is aimed at maintaining the broader detente.
Xi’s first White House state visit in more than a decade will therefore be more about spectacle than substance.