President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., on the 24th. This meeting between the leaders of the two countries, who are engaged in a competition for global hegemony, comes a little over four months after their summit in Beijing last May. It is their third meeting since the launch of the Trump administration’s second term. The first was held in Busan, South Korea, last October. President Xi Jinping’s visit is a state visit. This marks his first visit to the United States as a state guest in 11 years, since 2015. President Xi arrived in the U.S. via Joint Base Andrews near Washington on the afternoon of the 23rd (Eastern Time), and President Trump personally visited the base to host a welcoming ceremony and greet President Xi, demonstrating exceptional courtesy. An official welcoming ceremony for the state guest is also scheduled to take place at the White House prior to the summit on the 24th, and this event is expected to be lavish and grand. The world’s attention is focused on this meeting, where the leaders of the world’s top two economies and military powers sit face-to-face. This is because the impact their dialogue or agreements will have on the global economy and political landscape is immense.
However, many predict that this summit will not result in a decisive agreement to fully resolve the friction and conflicts currently raging behind the scenes. Instead, it appears the two leaders will focus on stably managing bilateral relations, such as by temporarily extending the “trade truce” agreed upon at the end of last year’s tariff war. U.S. media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Washington Post (WP), pointed out that the two leaders are seeking a flashy show and stability rather than concrete results at this summit. Analysts suggest that both President Trump, facing midterm elections, and President Xi, preparing for a fourth term, intend to leverage this summit to achieve their respective political objectives and enhance their domestic and international standing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who previously coordinated the summit agenda with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on the 20th (New York) and 23rd (Washington), appeared on Fox News today and announced that the two nations had agreed to extend the trade war truce between them, set to expire on November 10, for another two months until January 10 of next year.
Along with this, attention is focused on whether some form of agreement will be reached in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), where the U.S. and China are fiercely competing. Recently, the U.S. AI industry has seen the emergence of calls to slow down the pace of development, accompanied by warnings that rapidly advancing AI could lead to the extinction of humanity. In this regard, it is reported that the U.S. proposed to China the establishment of safeguards, such as mutual notification in the event of an AI model going out of control or a serious accident.
In addition, given that President Trump has recently expressed his determination to resume talks with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and publicly pledged to meet him within the year, there is interest in whether discussions regarding this will take place during his meeting with President Xi. A state dinner for President Xi is scheduled to be held at the White House on the evening of the same day the summit takes place. After completing his schedule with President Trump in the U.S. until the 25th, President Xi will conclude his three-day state visit and depart the United States.