Received with pomp by his “friend” Trump, Xi says he wants to “avoid any conflict” with the United States

On the second day of a particularly lavish state visit by Xi Jinping, the Chinese president pleaded Thursday, September 24, for the United States and China to responsibly manage the rivalry between the two superpowers, particularly in terms of artificial intelligence.

According to the Chinese president received at the White House, Beijing and Washington have both “the capabilities and the responsibility” to develop AI by keeping it under “human control” and ensuring that it “serves the well-being of populations”.

Shortly before, Donald Trump had affirmed that “hot topics” would be discussed during this meeting on “security, technology and superintelligence”, the term he has been using for several days to designate AI.

After going to shake his counterpart’s hand on Wednesday when he landed near Washington, Donald Trump gave a solemn welcome to Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the White House, with a military parade and a flyover of combat planes.

In remarks to the press before the meeting, Donald Trump assured that he had “forged a friendship, truly a great friendship” with his Chinese counterpart, “built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people”.

Xi Jinping, for his part, called for the two countries to maintain a course of action to “avoid any conflict and confrontation between them”.

On his Truth Social network, the American president had shortly before praised the appearance of Xi Jinping, whom he said he found “strong”, “dynamic” and “in better shape than ever”, in a context of recent rumors about the state of health of the Chinese leader.

Sam Altman and Elon Musk present at the state dinner

The state visit is scheduled to culminate in the evening with a gala dinner hosted by the first lady, Melania Trump.

On the table: pumpkin “velouté” with mushroom “fricassee”, grilled sea bass with “green sauce” and vanilla “crémeux” on frangipane – in French in the text.

Among the guests are several big names in American tech, including the boss of OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX and X). Xi Jinping did not bring business leaders.

Also readAI: at the UN, the bosses of Anthropic and OpenAI urge vigilance and cooperation

On Truth Social, Donald Trump explained Thursday that “superintelligence” would be a “major subject of discussion”, while saying he wanted to stay “exactly at the current stage” in terms of regulation. An approach which, according to him, is “also China’s position”.

Same positive state of mind on the part of the Chinese leader, who said, in more subdued language, to welcome “the in-depth discussions with President Trump on major issues concerning our bilateral relations and the world situation”.

“Our two countries should be partners rather than rivals,” Xi Jinping said in a note published by the official Xinhua news agency a few hours after his arrival in Washington.

On Thursday, the Chinese president announced that a pair of giant pandas, emblematic mammals of Chinese diplomacy, would arrive “in a few days” at the Atlanta Zoo, as a “symbol of friendship” between the two countries.

An extended trade truce

However, observers do not expect any major progress after this three-day visit, beyond the announcement already made on Wednesday.

An extended trade truce

As expected, the United States and China have decided to extend their trade truce until January 10, said American Finance Minister Scott Bessent.

The two superpowers decided in October 2025 to put an end to an escalation of customs duties and restrictive trade measures, which had shaken the entire world economy.

This truce, however, did not resolve all the differences between the two superpowers, engaged in an all-out rivalry: economic, technological, military and strategic.

Scott Bessent judged that China could be “a little more zealous” in respecting the terms of this agreement, noting that it was “a little behind” in terms of purchases of American agricultural products.

The two countries have many other areas of friction: Iran, China’s ally, but also Taiwan, which Beijing claims but which Washington supports militarily, or access to Chinese strategic mineral reserves.

With AFP