U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday (September 24, 2026) for a day full of pageantry as Mr. Trump sought to underline their shared interests despite a rumbling trade war and Beijing’s support for Iran.

Mr. Trump laid on the pomp and ceremony, treating Mr. Xi to a formal welcome at the White House before they moved to talks in the Oval Office and finally a grand state banquet in the evening.

China and the U.S. have reached consensus on multiple economic and trade issues during their latest round of consultations in New York, where the two sides also held their first dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI), the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday (September 24, 2026).

He Yadong, a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman, told the media in Beijing that the two countries’ economic and trade teams recently held their eighth round of consultations in New York, reaching consensus on several issues.

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and American Trade Representative Jamieson Greer participated in the talks in New York on Sunday (September 20, 2026) ahead of President Xi Jinping’s arrival in the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump accorded a rare airport reception to President Xi by personally receiving the Chinese leader when he arrived at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington on Wednesday (September 23, 2026).

Mr. He Yadong said that at the New York talks, the two sides held candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges on economic and trade issues of mutual concern, reaching consensus on multiple issues including reciprocal tariff reductions, establishing trade and investment councils, and extending the joint arrangements reached at the Kuala Lumpur economic and trade consultation, state-run China Daily reported.

China will maintain close communication with the U.S. side on follow-up work under the China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism, the spokesperson said.