Xi Jinping to pay state visit to US from September 23-25: Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25 at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday. "At the invitation of President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an official announcement. Xi’s visit comes as Washington and Beijing seek to manage tensions over trade, tariffs and other areas of strategic competition between the world’s two largest economies.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is already leading a delegation to the US for economic and trade consultations. His visit began on September 19 and is scheduled to continue through September 23. "The two sides will hold consultations on economic and trade issues of mutual concern, guided by the important consensus reached by the two heads of state," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

The timing of He’s visit means the economic and trade discussions will overlap with the beginning of Xi’s state visit to the US.

Trump had on September 18 said Washington was making progress in its relationship with Beijing and indicated that he expected several agreements to be discussed when Xi visits the White House. “We’re doing very well with China. I would say others maybe not so well, but we’re doing very well with China. And President Xi and I have a good relationship. We’re going to have a lot of different deals,” Trump said.

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“We intend, we're not just doing it for our health. We’re going to have some pretty important meetings,” he added. Trump also referred to the tariff dispute between the two countries, recalling that US tariffs on Chinese imports had previously reached 145 per cent before being reduced. “China is paying us a lot of tariffs. And, you remember, I had it up to 145% at one point, but it was too much. It was really hurting them badly, and I didn’t want to do that,” Trump said.

Xi’s visit will mark his return to Washington after more than a decade and is expected to bring the leaders of the world's two largest economies together for discussions covering trade, artificial intelligence and Taiwan. The state visit follows Trump’s trip to Beijing in May, where Xi hosted the US president at the Great Hall of the People. The two leaders subsequently described their relationship as a “constructive, strategic and stable relationship”. Trump is now expected to reciprocate with full state-visit honours as Xi prepares for talks at the White House.