WASHINGTON—Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived at the White House Thursday for the first time in more than a decade. President Donald Trump welcomed Xi to the White House with military honors.
The U.S. president, who met with Xi for the second time this year, said the two countries have been working to bring about a more balanced trade relationship.
The White House hasn’t released much information about the outcome of the talks, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the two sides had agreed to extend by two months a trade agreement that ended last year’s trade war and was due to expire in November.
The two were expected to discuss other pressing issues, including artificial intelligence, technology, and security. Decisions from that closed-door meeting would have consequences for decades to come, Trump said in the opening speech. He said in an earlier social media post that there’s no plan for new AI guardrails with China.
Xi told Trump that he hopes the United States will oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. Xi also supported the United States resuming negotiations with Iran and coming to an agreement on nuclear talks, according to Chinese state media.
First Lady Melania Trump and Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan toured the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, and children from a local Chinese school put on a choir performance for the pair, waving Chinese and U.S. flags.
At the state dinner, Trump presented Xi with a bald eagle sculpture.
Earlier, Xi touted a new student exchange program and the impending arrival of two pandas at Zoo Atlanta—both popular devices the regime uses to project soft power and improve its global image.
During the meetings, human rights activists held activities around Washington, seeking to remind the world about China’s extensive abuses.
Hours after Xi arrived in the District of Columbia, a human rights group projected the faces of Chinese political prisoners in multiple parts of the district. There are thousands of such individuals in China right now, and they should be free, the organizers said.
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