Xi To Trump After High-Stakes Meeting: China And US Should Be ‘Partners, Not Rivals’

US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for a closely watched summit that could shape the trajectory of US-China relations at a time of growing global instability.

The meeting began at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where Xi welcomed Trump with a formal state ceremony that included military honours and schoolchildren waving Chinese and American flags.

Opening the talks on a notably warm note, Trump praised Xi and said the relationship between both countries was heading in the right direction.

“You’re a great leader, sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway,” Trump told Xi, adding that the relationship between the two countries was going to be “better than ever before,” as reported by AFP.

Xi also struck a conciliatory tone, saying China and the United States should be “partners and not rivals.”

“A stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world. Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both,” Xi said, as reported by AFP.

Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night for his first visit to China since 2017 and the first by a sitting US president in nearly a decade. He was accompanied by senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, along with top business leaders such as Elon Musk and Jensen Huang.

Trade remains one of the biggest issues on the table. Both countries have been attempting to preserve a fragile tariff truce after months of economic tensions and retaliatory tariffs disrupted trade flows between the world’s two largest economies.

The ongoing Iran conflict is also expected to dominate discussions. The war has pushed global oil prices higher and raised concerns over disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for global energy supplies. Washington is expected to press Beijing to use its influence with Tehran to help reduce tensions.

Taiwan and competition over artificial intelligence and semiconductors are also expected to feature prominently during the two-day visit, as both nations continue to compete for technological and geopolitical dominance.

The two leaders are scheduled to continue discussions on Friday before Trump returns to Washington.

While expectations of a major breakthrough remain limited, the summit signals that both Washington and Beijing are trying to prevent tensions from escalating further at a time when global markets and governments are closely watching every move.