US President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at a White House state dinner, where the two leaders highlighted their personal relationship and expressed support for continued engagement between their countries.
The event took place on the second day of Xi’s three-day visit to Washington. Trump told guests that he and Xi had never had a better relationship, while Xi said the two countries should work together as responsible major powers.
Calls for stability and continued dialogue
Xi thanked Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for the reception given to him and his wife, saying they had been treated with meticulous care and consideration. He said the leaders had agreed to pursue a constructive China-US relationship based on strategic stability.
According to Xi, their exchanges had been sincere and in-depth, and could help strengthen bilateral relations. He said the interests of the two countries could reinforce one another and called for a new way for major countries to coexist.
Xi also referred to historical and cultural links between the United States and China, including their shared fight against Japan during the Second World War and the ping-pong diplomacy of the Nixon administration.
Trump praised the history of relations between the two countries and presented Xi with a bald eagle sculpture, describing the bird as a symbol of America’s free and soaring spirit. Trump said he and the first lady had taken part in designing the gift. He also invited Xi and his wife to visit a ballroom construction project at the White House.
Business and technology leaders attend
The guest list included senior administration officials, members of Trump’s family, conservative broadcasters and executives from major US companies. Technology leaders reported to be present included Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk.
Cook, Huang and Musk were seated at the same table as Trump and Xi, according to the report. Other companies represented included General Motors, Visa, Paramount Skydance and ExxonMobil. Anthropic, a major artificial intelligence company, was notably absent, though it was not clear whether the company had been invited or chose not to attend.
Outside the White House, protesters could be heard as guests arrived, and some demonstrators were arrested. The dinner menu combined American ingredients with Chinese influences, while the wines included a selection linked to Nixon’s 1972 toast with former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.
Trump and Xi were scheduled to begin Friday with tea in the White House Red Room alongside their wives before visiting the US National Archives. Xi and his wife were due to leave Washington later that day. Despite the warm public remarks, experts cited in the report said the talks had so far produced little concrete progress.
Source: BBC News
