Xi Jinping spent about 13 minutes at the White House lectern on Thursday, and Donald Trump spoke for roughly 8.5. By the time the two presidents went into the Oval Office for closed-door talks, Xi had promised to work with Washington on governing artificial intelligence. It was their first face-to-face meeting since May.
“Both China and the US are leading nations in AI,” Xi told the welcoming ceremony. The two countries, he said, have the capability and the responsibility to keep AI “always under human control.” The pledge followed a first AI dialogue between Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in New York on Sunday. Bessent said they agreed to set up a hotline for notifying each other of AI safety incidents.
Xi also put several offers on the table. China would invite 100,000 young Americans over the next five years for exchanges and study, double an earlier target of 50,000 that China’s Foreign Ministry says was reached in May, two and a half years ahead of schedule. He proposed more direct flights, closer work on counter-narcotics and law enforcement, and regular military dialogue with better crisis communication. On fentanyl, the US cut its related tariffs on Chinese goods to 10% from 20% after last October’s Busan summit.
Taiwan and Iran
According to Xinhua, Xi told Trump he hopes the US will oppose Taiwan independence and handle the question prudently. China’s position on national unity and territorial integrity, he said, is “crystal clear.” In the closing lines of his speech he said “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again (MAGA) can go hand in hand.” In Xi’s political vocabulary, rejuvenation includes unifying Taiwan with the mainland.
A proposed US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan, the largest ever for the island, has been on hold since the May summit in Beijing. Trump has called it a potential “negotiating chip.” No date to proceed has been set.
On Iran, Xi said he hopes Washington and Tehran return to dialogue soon, Xinhua reported. China backs a return to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed June 17, which extended a ceasefire by 60 days and reopened the Strait of Hormuz. It fell apart in July after Iran struck commercial vessels there. Beijing has so far declined US calls to use its leverage over Tehran to end the nearly seven-month war.
Trade
Neither side had announced a trade deal by Thursday afternoon. Bessent said on Wednesday that the truce agreed in Busan, due to expire November 10, would be extended by two months to January 10, shorter than the six months some media had reported. “We’re open to the idea of just continuing the Busan arrangement or examining the bigger deal,” he said.
China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong said the Bessent-He talks covered carrying out earlier consensus, setting up a trade council and an investment council, and extending the Kuala Lumpur arrangement from last October. Bessent said Beijing was meeting its commitment to buy 25 million tons of US soybeans but lagging on its pledge of US$17 billion in other agricultural goods. US officials said last week that rare-earth deliveries were also behind.
History and pandas
Both leaders reached back to the wartime alliance. Trump praised the Flying Tigers, the American volunteer pilots who fought Japan for China in 1941 and 1942. He noted that US Marines took the phrase “gung ho” from the Chinese “gong he”, meaning working together. Xi said Chinese and Americans “fought shoulder to shoulder against fascist aggression.” He added that two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, would move to Zoo Atlanta in a few days.
After the ceremony the leaders reviewed troops in the Rose Garden under a B-2 bomber and four F-22 jets. The Trumps hosted a state dinner that evening. Xi ends his visit at the National Archives on Friday.
