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Mark Magnier

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed at Joint Base Andrews late Wednesday afternoon after a 15-hour flight where he was met on the tarmac by US President Donald Trump in an unusual move for a top American leader as the two sides extended a trade truce.
The closely watched visit – Xi’s first summit in the United States in 11 years – comes as the two nations grapple with a host of thorny issues beneath the flowery language and statements of friendship, including artificial intelligence, critical minerals, tariffs, Ukraine, the Iran war, Taiwan and military relations.
Xi, accompanied by first lady Peng Liyuan, senior Chinese official Cai Qi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and several other Chinese dignitaries, were greeted with a modest arrival ceremony.
“China and the United States are great nations, and their peoples are great peoples.,” Xi told Trump, according to Xinhua News, in a written statement conveyed to the US president. “The two peoples have enjoyed long-standing friendly exchanges, and their interests are deeply intertwined.”
After an “unscheduled” second day of negotiations on Wednesday between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, Bessent told Fox News that the two sides agreed that a trade truce set to expire on November 10 had been extended by two months. China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There was a several-minute delay after Xi’s plane landed as US personnel awkwardly steered a rolled-up 100-foot (30.4 metre) red carpet on a small trolley to a position beneath the Chinese aircraft.
The trolley almost tipped over before staff righted it as, directed by a functionary seeking to get it properly aligned, unrolled the floor covering as military personnel on their knees removed creases and protocol chief Hong Lei and Wang watched from the aircraft doorway.
Trump and first lady Melania then emerged from the “Beast” presidential limousine at 6pm and greeted Xi and his wife as they descended the jetway.
The two couples chatted for a few minutes then watched a 21-person honour guard and listened as the Chinese and American national anthems played, cannons fired a salute and two B-1 bombers thundered overhead before the two sides parted in opposite directions after roughly 15 minutes.
The concise ceremony also included a rendition of “Fanfare for the Common Man”, a short, loud, ceremonial piece featuring brass instruments and percussion traditionally played to announce someone important.

Xi’s arrival has been framed as a mirror image of Trump’s summit in Beijing four months earlier. The time on the ground will be limited to 48 hours; there will be no side visits outside the capital; and the programme will include a state dinner and military viewing. The carefully choreographed visit is in part meant to underscore respect and the equality of the two wary competitors, an issue of particular importance to Beijing.
A couple of big differences with the reciprocal May trip, however: there were no Chinese business executives accompanying Xi on his “special plane,” a modified Air China Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, landing under grey skies on Wednesday, amid questions over whether they will appear at all.
In contrast, Trump brought along two US chief executives aboard Air Force One in May, part of a 17 CEO contingent that reportedly arrived without giving Beijing much notice.
Sources say the limited ongoing clarity over a Chinese CEO delegation is due in part to the lack of progress on a proposed Board of Investment and to bilateral communication problems.
Xi urged the two sides to find common ground.
“Both sides should move towards each other to foster a stable relationship characterized by cooperation as the mainstream, measured competition, manageable differences, and the prospect of peace,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.
A second difference relative to China’s detailed hosting has been the shortfall in planning and logistics done by a distracted US administration in recent weeks compared with China’s near-compulsive approach.
While the White House has been juggling its Iran war of choice, a Canadian trade showdown, Trump’s record-low popularity and a pending November election, summit preparation has also been frustrated by the small number of US decision-makers and an impetuous president inclined to rip up plans on short notice.
This was seen in part by the addition of a second day of “unscheduled” negotiating by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng on Wednesday just hours before Xi landed. Traditionally, intense summit planning begins up to six months in advance with deals and deliverables are largely decided weeks ahead of the date.
High on the agenda for a meeting with low deliverable expectations will be some movement on artificial intelligence, a key part of Bessent’s portfolio and a source of rising tensions in recent months as the two nations tout competing visions, promote rival companies and adhere to different regulatory environments.
Another entrenched problem almost certainly on the agenda is Iran. Trump badly wants China’s help in forcing Tehran to the bargaining table to end a war he started nearly seven months ago. But China, which was buying over 80 per cent of Iran’s exported crude before the conflict, has balked at turning the screws on its Middle Eastern partner.
Asked by reporters if Iran would be discussed, Trump said: “I’ll be talking about that and many other subjects but it’s all coming along, including that.”
Another key issue involves the 90 per cent of global rare earth mineral processing that China controls. Beijing has meted out sparingly to US companies this essential component of most tech products since Liberation Day when Trump threatened tariffs of over 80 per cent on the Asian export behemoth. This has given China enormous leverage over the US and fundamentally changed the power dynamic between the world’s two largest economies, clout that China is in no hurry to give up.
The two could also discuss further extending the one-year trade truce agreed to late last October in South Korea and now deferred until January. This could give the two leaders leeway to announce a longer truce at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen later in November or at a Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.
Framing the tussle is a disagreement over how long an extension is acceptable. China would like to see it last through early 2029 when Trump’s tenure ends while Washington believes shorter, more frequent pacts give it greater leverage to ensure China follows through.
Another dynamic in the background of this week’s talks is the divergence often seen between an increasingly pro-China Trump and China hawks in his administration and in Congress.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday evening whether he agreed with Joseph Weirsky, his counterterrorism acting director, that fentanyl coming from China amounted to war by other means, Trump suggested the issue was largely settled.
“That’s not good,” he said. “But they’ve been tariffed and really penalized very strongly.”
Trump’s tarmac greeting on Wednesday marked the first time a US president welcomed a foreign leader at an airport in 11 ‌years, when President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis in 2015 at Joint Base Andrews. And before that, over a half century earlier, former US president John F. Kennedy met then British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan at Andrews Air Force Base, its former name.


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Chinese leader begins 48-hour visit as Trump seeks progress on AI, Iran, rare earths and trade, with expectations for deals low


Chinese leader begins 48-hour visit as Trump seeks progress on AI, Iran, rare earths and trade, with expectations for deals low.


Xi lands in US for high-stakes summit with Trump amid deep tensions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chinese leader begins 48-hour visit as Trump seeks progress on AI, Iran, rare earths and trade, with expectations for deals low

Chinese leader begins 48-hour visit as Trump seeks progress on AI, Iran, rare earths and trade, with expectations for deals low