Trump greets Xi on tarmac in rare welcome to start state visit

US President Donald Trump has greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping on the tarmac after he landed in the US, kicking off a three-day state visit aimed at smoothing simmering tensions between the superpowers.

Mr Trump and First Lady Melania shook hands with Mr Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan after the Chinese leader descended from his plane at Joint Base Andrews, a US military airfield outside Washington. 

The two presidents stood side-by-side as a military band played, before two B-1 bombers staged a noisy flyover.

The personal airport greeting, a courtesy Mr Trump was notably denied when he visited Beijing in May, begins three days of pageantry that will include another flyover and a state banquet at the White House on Thursday, local time.

Six F-22 fighter jets and six F-16s were lined up on the tarmac in an apparent display of military might as US officials literally rolled out the red carpet for the Chinese leader.

Expectations of any breakthroughs are low, with analysts saying the main aim of the lavish spectacle is to maintain a fragile diplomatic and trade truce between the world's biggest economies.

Mr Xi was accompanied by his right-hand man Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, among others, according to Chinese state media.

But there were no Chinese CEOs in his delegation, two sources told AFP, despite the fact that top US tech bosses, including the leaders of major AI companies, are set to attend Thursday's White House state banquet.

Mr Xi's visit will wrap up on Friday morning, local time, when the two presidential couples have tea at the White House and then visit the National Archives, home to the US Declaration of Independence.

American presidents very rarely travel to the airport to greet foreign leaders, although Mr Trump welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin off his plane in Alaska last year.

The last such welcomes at Andrews, apart from papal visits, are believed to be John F. Kennedy's welcome for British prime minister Harold Macmillan in 1962, and Dwight D. Eisenhower's for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1959.

AI on agenda

When the two leaders sit down for their highly anticipated talks on Thursday, they will be confronting a host of thorny issues led by fears — boosted by warnings from tech CEOs — that artificial intelligence risks wiping out humanity.

But with China and the United States racing for AI supremacy, there are few expectations of any deal to regulate the rapidly advancing technology.

Jonathan Czin of the Brookings Institution told AFP that expectations were low for any concrete results from the meeting but added: "I think there will be some extension of the gentleman's agreement."

Analysts said that China had meanwhile begun to look past Mr Trump, whose second term ends in early 2029, and is in many ways playing for time and using the truce to consolidate its position.

Preliminary talks on Sunday between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng included discussion of creating a communication channel for AI concerns.

The two men held further "substantive" talks on Wednesday to prepare for Mr Xi's visit, Mr Bessent said in a statement.

The treasury secretary told Fox News that both sides had agreed to extend a tariff trade truce until January 10, 2027.

Xi's visit draws condemnation

Trump's five-star welcome for Mr Xi has drawn criticism from China hawks within his own party, especially amid reports that Beijing supplied Iran with intelligence for attacks on US troops.

"Our commander-in-chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator," said Republican Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.

The US president however has played down the need to bring up the allegations of Chinese help for Iran, justifying it on the grounds that both Beijing and Washington spy on each other.

For Mr Trump, the state visit is also a chance to focus on pageantry instead of problems at home, where the Iran war's effect on fuel prices has sent his approval rating plummeting to historic lows ahead of midterm elections in November.