Xi says China-US relationship key to global stability as summit talks begin
Amy Hawkins
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have started their bilateral talks inside the Great Hall of the People, China’s grand national legislature.
In opening remarks, Xi noted that 2026 marks 250 years of US independence and said that stability in the US-China relationship was necessary for global stability.
Donald Trump walks with Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Trump said that he and Xi have “known each other for a long time” and that Xi was a “great leader”.
“I say to everybody you’re a great leader,” Trump told Xi. “Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”
Updated at 22.47 EDT
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Xi tells Trump China and US could ‘come into conflict’ if Taiwan mishandled – report
Xi Jinping has told Donald Trump their countries could come into conflict if the issue over self-ruled Taiwan claimed by Beijing is mishandled, Chinese state media said.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said at their summit, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
double quotation markIf mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation.”
Updated at 00.19 EDT
Xi says China and the US must transcend ‘Thucydides Trap’
References to ancient Greece may not have been high on today’s prediction list, but that is exactly what Xi Jinping did when he welcomed Trump in Beijing today.
Xi name-checked an ancient Greek historian to express his hopes that the US and China can avoid conflict, saying that history, the world and its people were asking whether the two countries can transcend the “Thucydides Trap” and forge a new model for relations between major powers.
US president Donald Trump is greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on 14 May, 2026 in Beijing, China. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
He was using a term that’s popular in foreign policy studies, referring to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established power, the result is often war.
It comes from Thucydides’ account of the destructive Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, in which he remarked that: “It was the rise of Athens, and the fear that rise engendered in Sparta, that made war inevitable.”
Xi says the world is at a crossroads, marked by turbulence and uncertainty.
The question before China and the United States, he said, is “whether the two countries can work together to meet challenges and bring greater stability to the world”.
Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed the US-China summit along with persistent inflation concerns, which tempered optimism fuelled by record highs on Wall Street.
The Nasdaq and S+P 500 hit the fresh highs overnight but investor attention centred on Donald Trump’s Beijing visit, with markets hoping for progress in easing trade tensions but analysts cautioning against expecting a major breakthrough.
As the strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut, the price of international benchmark Brent crude oil was marginally up on Thursday morning, going for a little over $105 a barrel, AFP reports.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Manila advanced, while Shanghai, Wellington and Singapore were down.
Currency markets were relatively steady, with the yen slightly weaker and the yuan ticking higher.
As the high-stakes US-China summit continues, negotiations on the conflict in the Middle East, the US-China trade war, disagreements over Taiwan and global AI competition will be packed into just over 24 hours.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said as the Trump team travelled to Beijing that Washington would be pushing Beijing for help on the Iran crisis.
Beijing, meanwhile, hopes to use the meeting to recalibrate US-China ties and set a foundation for a stable and, optimistically, predictable trade relationship going forwards.
Amy Hawkins also reports that Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the US, said in the Chinese Communist party’s official newspaper on Thursday:
double quotation markAgainst the backdrop of escalating international instability, the strategic significance of Sino-US relations is even more prominent.
It is not clear what concrete outcomes will be achieved at this week’s talks. The Trump administration has talked of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries. Beijing wants to push Trump to soften US support for Taiwan, although many in Beijing concede this is unlikely.
Despite the trip lasting barely two days, Xi and Trump will have plenty of time for interaction on this visit – the first of up to four presidential meetings expected this year.
See the full report here:
Updated at 23.35 EDT
David Smith
Donald Trump was evidently pleased with his welcome in Beijing. US domestic critics will say that it flattered his authoritarian ego perfectly.
In October 2024 Trump said of Xi Jinping:
double quotation markHe controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. I mean, he’s a brilliant guy, whether you like it or not.
The US president will have loved the cool, clinical pageantry that greeted him at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing: red carpet, cannon fire, martial music and troops in ceremonial uniforms with bayoneted rifles marching in lockstep.
Trump stopped to applaud children who energetically waved flags and flowers with theatrical adulation. He watched as Xi warmly shook hands with his son, Eric, and his favourite rightwing ideologue, Stephen Miller.
Trump accompanied by Xi during the welcome in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photograph: Kenny Holston/AP
“That was an honour like few have ever seen before,” Trump said when they sat down in a grand boardroom.
He told Xi:
double quotation markYou’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true. I only say the truth.
Once, such China-US meetings were palpably between autocrat and democrat. Now they appear like two birds of a feather.
Updated at 23.07 EDT
More from the two leaders’ opening remarks now.
Trump told Xi in the meeting room that their two countries were “going to have a fantastic future together”.
“It’s an honour to be with you,” Trump said.
double quotation markIt’s an honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”
The Chinese leader was quoting as telling Trump at the table with their delegations in the Great Hall of the People that he was “happy” for the US president’s visit while the world was “at a new crossroads” and that he looked forward to exchanging views with him on major issues.
Xi said:
double quotation markA stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world. Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both. We should be partners and not rivals.”
Updated at 22.59 EDT
Xi says China-US relationship key to global stability as summit talks beginAmy Hawkins
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have started their bilateral talks inside the Great Hall of the People, China’s grand national legislature.
In opening remarks, Xi noted that 2026 marks 250 years of US independence and said that stability in the US-China relationship was necessary for global stability.
Donald Trump walks with Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Trump said that he and Xi have “known each other for a long time” and that Xi was a “great leader”.
“I say to everybody you’re a great leader,” Trump told Xi. “Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”
Updated at 22.47 EDT
Trump tells Xi their relationship will be ‘better than ever’
The US-China summit is now under way.
Xi said in opening remarks that he always believed that the common interests between China and the US outweighed the differences.
He also said the success of China and the US was an opportunity for each other.
Trump told him in reply that the relationship was “going to be better than ever”.
Updated at 23.06 EDT
Trump’s motorcade arrived at the Great Hall at 10.01am local time, almost exactly on schedule.
It slowly drew to a halt and Trump emerged at 10.03, wearing a suit and red tie. A band played a fanfare.
He walked over to Xi – who was standing by the steps – and they shook hands for a couple of seconds, with Trump briefly patting Xi’s hand, AFP reports.
Xi, accompanied by Trump, then shook hands with the US delegation front row.
Trump and Xi moved to the raised red-and-gold dais as the Chinese military band played the Star Spangled Banner. Trump saluted as cannon fire rang out across Tianenmen Square. Both leaders then stood to attention for the Chinese national anthem.
Trump and Xi inspected an honour guard of several lines of Chinese troops in various ceremonial uniforms in blue and white with bayoneted rifles. Nearest the press poll was a group of rifle-clutching female troops.
Schoolchildren then energetically did their routine and Trump smiled broadly and applauded them as Xi and he moved along in front of them, later heading towards the Great Hall.
Updated at 23.55 EDT
Trump and Xi have entered the Great Hall of the People, along with their entourages, and the welcome ceremony has ended.
Bilateral talks between the two countries are now to follow, and we’re seeing live images of the two delegations seated on a long table with Chinese and US flags at the end.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping greet children waving Chinese and US national flags. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Xi is delivering opening remarks as Trump listens, sometimes nodding, and then Trump addresses Xi.
The day is to later include a visit to the Temple of Heaven and a state banquet.
Updated at 23.52 EDT
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping take part in welcome ceremony in Beijing
Donald Trump has met Xi Jinping in Beijing and a welcome ceremony is under way outside the Great Hall of the People.
Donald Trump inspects an honour guard during a welcome ceremony with Xi Jinping. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters
The leaders shook hands and walked together on a red carpet after Trump arrived in a motorcade to the steps outside, where a US delegation including Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth and business chiefs including Elon Musk awaited him.
The ceremony is continuing now, with marching soldiers and music, as Xi and Trump stand side by side under a gazebo and watch.
Updated at 22.19 EDT