Xi begins 3-day US visit with rare airport welcome from Trump

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President Xi Jinping is set to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington, in the first face-to-face meeting between the Chinese and American leaders since Trump visited Beijing in May.

On this first day of Xi’s three-day trip, he will be met at the Joint Base Andrews military airstrip by Trump himself, in an extraordinary break from protocol that Xi did not afford the American president in May. Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan, will then travel into the US capital by motorcade.

The trip comes as the US-China relationship continues to fluctuate. Trump’s warm welcome comes as both Washington and Beijing jockey for position in arenas as diverse as trade, artificial intelligence (AI), resources and global influence, and a day after the mercurial US president flattered Japanese prime minister – and Beijing antagonist – Sanae Takaichi.

Join SCMP for live updates from the first day of this high-profile political event.

Reporting by Teresa Frontado, Mark Magnier, Lucy Quaggin, Nayan Seth, Han Li, Vincent Chow, Holly Chik, Sigi Ji, Dewey Sim. All times given in blog entries are Eastern Time (UTC-5, HKT-13).