Trump to fete Xi with lavish White House welcome

U.S. President Donald Trump will host Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday for a day full of pageantry with one goal -- keeping the fragile peace between the rival superpowers.

Trump personally greeted Xi on the tarmac after his arrival on Wednesday, the first time in more than six decades that a U.S. president has welcomed a foreign political leader at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.

He will lay on more pomp and ceremony for Xi on Thursday, treating him to a formal welcome on the White House South Lawn, a military flyover, talks in the Oval Office and finally a grand state banquet.

But the lavish welcome masks deep tensions over thorny topics including the trade war between the world's top two economies, artificial intelligence and Beijing's diplomatic and economic support for Iran.

Xi urged cooperation in comments reported by Chinese state media shortly after his arrival, saying that China and the United States should be "partners rather than rivals."

The Chinese president added that he was looking "forward to in-depth exchanges with President Trump on major issues concerning our bilateral relations and the global situation."

AFP