Trump and Xi meet in Washington, extending trade truce and resisting new AI rules

State arrival and White House meetings

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, marking his first official trip to Washington in more than a decade. US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump received Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, directly at the aircraft. The reception marked the first instance of a sitting US president greeting a foreign head of state on the tarmac at Andrews since Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis in 2015. During the ceremony, Air Force B-1 bombers and F-22 Raptor fighter jets conducted a low flyover above the tarmac. Official proceedings continued Thursday with bilateral sessions across the South Lawn, the Rose Garden, and White House reception rooms, leading into a state dinner featuring technology executives Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, and Sam Altman.

Trade truce extension and economic negotiations

Bilateral economic delegations reached an agreement to postpone tariff deadlines ahead of the formal leaders' meeting. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng resulted in extending the existing trade truce by two months. The extension moves the expiration date from 10 November 2026 to 10 January 2027, granting both economies additional room to negotiate terms on rare earths and opioid precursor supply chains. Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong reported that both sides achieved several consensuses following frank and constructive exchanges.

Before entering the bilateral sessions, Xi outlined Beijing's diplomatic approach through the Xinhua news agency.

Our two countries should be partners, not rivals.

Shared stance on artificial intelligence

Technological competition featured heavily on the agenda, with both administrations aligning against the introduction of new global regulatory bodies for artificial intelligence. Earlier in the week, 20 countries and the European Union issued a joint declaration calling for an international supervisory entity to oversee advanced systems, an initiative that neither Washington nor Beijing endorsed. Chinese and American delegations held their first dedicated bilateral dialogue on artificial intelligence, during which US officials proposed an incident notification mechanism for systems that impact national security. Trump stated publicly that existing domestic legal mechanisms are sufficient to manage technological risks without international intervention.

Donald Trump outlined his perspective on Truth Social ahead of the bilateral meetings.

Super Intelligence (SI) will be a key topic of discussion, but I want to leave things just the way they are. That is China's position too. Our safeguard is the Department of Justice!

Zheng Yongnian, dean of the School of Public Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shenzhen, told the South China Morning Post that both nations must avoid dividing into isolated AI ecosystems.

Taiwan arms sales and Middle East energy

Security discussions addressed the status of Taiwan and the seven-month conflict involving Iran. Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Jiang Bin identified peace in the Taiwan Strait as the most critical issue in bilateral ties, noting that Beijing seeks strategic stability with Washington. In Washington, an approved 14 billion dollar arms package for Taipei remains paused while the administration evaluates its inventory. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that all foreign military sales must reflect the minimum operational needs of US commanders globally. Four Republican senators, led by Mitch McConnell, sent a formal letter urging Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to unblock over 15 billion dollars in total Taiwan security assistance.

The leaders also evaluated energy flows disrupted by Middle East hostilities, following Beijing's recent diplomatic reception of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. According to a 2025 report from the US Energy Information Administration, more than 70 percent of China's oil consumption is imported, with Iran supplying 12 percent of its crude oil and other Middle Eastern nations supplying 42 percent.