Donald Trump praised a deepening relationship with Xi Jinping at a state dinner in Washington, bringing a day of talks between the US and Chinese leaders to a lavish close.
The dinner on Thursday featured technology executives, billionaires, business leaders and senior Washington figures, as the two countries sought closer dialogue despite disagreements over Iran, Taiwan, artificial intelligence and trade.
Xi’s three-day visit is his first to Washington in more than a decade and marks the second meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies this year.
During his toast, Mr Trump said the pair understood that they represented different political systems but that relations between their peoples remained strong.
“President Xi and I both understand we represent different systems, but the ties between our people endure, and we’ve never gotten along better,” Mr Trump said.
“Together, we can continue to build a relationship that promotes prosperity and security for future generations,” he added.
Technology leaders join Trump-Xi state dinner
Among the guests were OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and Bernard Arnault, chief executive of French luxury goods group LVMH.
Earlier in the day, Mr Trump described his meeting with Xi as “great”. The leaders discussed Taiwan, trade and artificial intelligence, while a dispute over press access at the White House unfolded in parallel.
Mr Trump also showed Xi updates to the White House, including the Marine One presidential helicopter and a new helipad. He later invited guests to view the site of a ballroom under construction nearby.
Xi referred to the two leaders’ domestic ambitions in his own toast, saying Mr Trump had pledged to “make America great again” while China was committed to “achieving great national rejuvenation”.
“These two goals are both ambitious and can surely be mutually reinforcing,” Xi said.
Mr Trump had taken the unusual step of personally greeting Xi and his wife when they arrived at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on Wednesday, rather than waiting to welcome them at the White House.
