‘The whole world is watching our meeting’ – Xi Jinping tells Trump ‘we should be partners, not rivals’

Xi Says World Is Watching US-China Meeting

Xi Jinping told Donald Trump ‘the whole world is watching our meeting’ and called on them to be ‘partners not rivals’ as the two sat down for talks in Beijing on Thursday.

“The whole world is watching our meeting,” he said. “Currently, transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent. The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world?”

Chinese President Calls for Partnership Over Rivalry

“They are the questions of our times that you and I need to answer as leaders of major countries,” he went on. “China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation.

We should be partners, not rivals. We should help each other succeed and prosper together, and find the right way for major countries to get along well with each other in the new era.”

Trade and Global Issues Dominate Beijing Talks

Trump’s trip to China takes place on May 13-15. It marks his second state visit to the country and first for a US president since 2017. It was delayed from April at the Americans’ request due to the Iran war.

The leaders last met in Busan, South Korea in October, where they hit ‘pause’ on an escalating tariffs war. Trade talks this time will see the US keen to extend China’s suspension of export controls on rare earths – agreed last time around – as well as potential deals on planes, agriculture and energy – and foreign affairs including Iran.