Washington DC; September 2026: China’s President Xi Jinping concluded his three-day state visit to the US today (Saturday – 26th September 2026; IST) with hopes of enhanced cooperation and partnership between the world’s two largest economies. As a matter of special concern, the Chinese President reiterated that Chinese companies “are treated fairly in the US” while inviting more US companies to invest in China. “Working together, we can lengthen the list of cooperation and shorten the list of issues” he underlined.
The US has sanctioned or put a large number of Chinese companies, including its AI firms on various watch lists in recent years, after accusing them of working with the Chinese armed forces or being involved in the so-called technology theft.
Notably, however, major US tech and finance executives such as Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Eric Yuan of Zoom, Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, Larry Fink of Blackrock, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla, were present at the state dinner for Xi’s visit hosted at the White House yesterday (Friday – 24th September 2026), though no details of cooperation between US and Chinese tech firms have emerged.
Successive administrations in the US have characterised China’s advancements in technology and other economic sectors as a threat to American interests and have tried to curb them by restricting its access to technology. In his attempt to address such apprehensions, Xi proposed that “both sides work towards a relationship featuring cooperation as the mainstay, moderate competition, manageable differences, and the promise of peace”.
Talking about the competition in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Xi offered increased coordination and cooperation between the countries as a way of mutual benefit. While emphasising that “two sides should maintain human control over AI technologies, uphold people-centered approach and the principle of using AI for good” he proposed greater exchange of information to “prevent any misuse and abuse of AI”.
Earlier, on Thursday immediately after reaching Washington DC, the Chinese President had bilateral discussions with his American counterpart Donald Trump, wherein Xi Jinping had called for translating the new vision of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability into action and finding the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other.
Xi pointed out that the exchange of visits between the heads of state of China and the United States in less than half a year is unprecedented in the history of China-US ties. He and Trump have maintained communication through various channels and worked together to steer the giant ship of China-US relationship, Xi said.
In May this year (2026), Xi Jinping and Trump have agreed to work toward building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability, Xi said that the new vision reflects the realities of China-US ties, embodies the expectations for the future, and is an important step toward finding the right way for the two countries to get along with each other. “The two sides need to work toward a relationship featuring cooperation as the mainstay, moderate competition, manageable differences, and promises of peace”, Xi said.
He has asserted that China and the United States should, and fully can, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results through practical cooperation, help each other succeed through healthy competition, properly manage differences by seeking common ground while respecting differences, and build peace by fostering mutual trust, so that a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability can better benefit the two peoples and people around the world.
Xi stressed that the economic and trade teams of the two countries held a new round of consultations and reached a new joint arrangement, which is good news for industries and people of both countries, as well as the global economy.
Emphasising that cooperation is a two-way street, Xi said a stable China-US economic and trade relationship requires both expanding the list of cooperation, and shortening the list of problems. As long as the two sides uphold the spirit of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, a way out of problems can be found, Xi said.
Xi expressed hope that the two sides will work in the same direction, stay committed to the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and promote the sustained, stable and sound development of China-US economic and trade relations. Xi said that while China and the United States, as both major countries in AI, compete in AI, they have even more reasons to cooperate.
The two sides should leverage respective strengths in AI rather than guarding against each other, Xi said, adding that the two sides can continue to engage in dialogue on AI, exchange views on its risks and benefits, and work together to prevent the misuse and abuse of AI. The two sides should maintain human control over AI technologies, uphold a people-centered approach and the principle of using AI for good, and ensure that AI serves human progress, he added.
Xi stressed that the Chinese side's position on safeguarding national reunification and territorial integrity is clear-cut. It is hoped that the US side will adhere to the correct position of opposing "Taiwan independence", and handle the Taiwan question with caution, so as to lay a solid foundation for China-US strategic cooperation and the development of bilateral relations, Xi said.
For his part, Trump said that the state visit of Xi to the United States is a great visit, adding that both the United States and China are major countries, and that he and Xi are good friends and have maintained in-depth and close communication. The US-China relations will surely be handled well under the leadership of the two heads of state, he said.
The latest round of economic and trade consultations between teams of both countries achieved new outcomes, said Trump, calling on both sides to continue dialogue to reach a better agreement.
As Artificial Intelligence bears on the future of humanity, Trump said that the United States and China should maintain dialogue and strengthen cooperation on this issue. Both heads of state also exchanged views on major international and regional issues including the Middle East situation, Ukraine crisis and Korean Peninsula.
The two leaders have also confirmed that the two countries will support each other in hosting the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and the G20 Leaders' Summit.
Team Maverick.
