Donald Trump and Xi Jinping struck a warm tone during a lavish White House summit, but there was little sign of progress on the biggest issues dividing the US and China.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for a lavish summit that was heavy on symbolism but light on substance, with no sign of breakthroughs on thorny issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan and the war with Iran.

The two leaders and their wives attended a state dinner, a black-tie affair of sesame-crusted sea bass and a guest list heavy with tech CEOs. Outside the gate, a group of loud protesters shouted slogans like “China out of Hong Kong” that were clearly audible to the leaders as they posed for pictures on the red-carpeted White House steps.

In his dinner toast, Trump said he and Xi “both understand we represent different systems but the ties between our people endure and we’ve never gotten along better.”

Trump then invited dinner guests to tour the site of the new ballroom he is building nearby, hours after showing Xi a helipad he had had built in the White House complex. Construction projects are a frequent digression for a president who has put a lot of focus on remaking Washington’s physical infrastructure.

Xi said he and Trump had in-depth discussions and reached “common understanding on many issues” that provided “new strategic guidance for China-US relations.” He did not elaborate.

“China and the United States must act as responsible major countries,” he said, calling for “a new approach for major countries to get along with each other.”

The meeting was striking for where it took place – in Washington, even as scores of world leaders were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

It took place at a time of rising public concern about the swift growth of AI, and as Trump struggles to resolve a war his administration and Israel began with Iran, which has sharply driven up energy prices and weighed heavily on his public approval as November midterm elections approach.

Taiwan remains sticking point

During a bilateral discussion in the afternoon, Xi urged the US to oppose “Taiwan independence,” according to a readout from the official Chinese news agency – addressing one of the thorniest issues between the two countries. The White House has not yet provided its own summary of the talks.

Xi had been expected to press Trump this week to halt arms sales to Taiwan. Following his visit to China in May, Trump said he was holding in abeyance an arms package to Taiwan worth some $14 billion and called it a “very good negotiating chip.”

That move left some US allies in Asia and even some of Trump’s fellow Republicans concerned that he may be tempted to soften Washington’s support for Taipei in exchange for economic wins. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out using force to gain control over the island.

The summit between the two leaders came shortly after Trump forcefully defended his use of military power in a speech at the UN earlier this week, suggesting he could “annihilate” Iran. He took a strikingly different tone with Xi on Thursday, reflecting a power balance that has shifted toward the Chinese leader after a trade war that ended with a US climbdown on tariffs.

In remarks after Xi’s arrival on Thursday, Trump emphasized his “truly great friendship” with Xi, rather than focusing on policy differences, and said the two powers had made strides on trade since his trip to China in May.

Somewhat more pointely, Xi said the two countries’ interests were deeply intertwined and that competition between them should be a “healthy one.” US companies were welcome in China, he said, adding that he hopes “Chinese companies are treated fairly here in the United States.”

Xi also said both militaries should maintain regular dialogue to improve crisis prevention.

Personal ties versus national interests

Edgard Kagan, a former senior White House official for East Asia, said the contrasting rhetoric demonstrates the different strategy of each leader.

“The president is casting it very much as about his personal relationship with Xi,” said Kagan, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “What I found interesting was Xi is being much more cautious and suggesting that it’s less about the personal relationship than the national relationship.”

The summit, Xi’s first visit to Washington in more than a decade, is the second meeting this year between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.

For Trump, who relishes ceremony and prizes his ties with powerful leaders, the visit is as much a matter of national prestige as an opportunity for high-stakes diplomacy.

But Trump and Xi’s remarks were not carried live by any US television networks, which refused to provide footage in protest of the White House’s ban of CNN, MS Now and Politico.

During his comments on Thursday, Xi said both countries must “ensure that the development of AI is always under human control.”

AI rivalry limits room for agreement

Analysts say intense competition between the two powers in AI is likely to limit the scope for anything beyond symbolic agreements.

There has been little sign Beijing is willing to exert pressure on Iran to yield to US demands. During Thursday’s meeting, Xi expressed support for the US and Iran to return to a ceasefire and eventually negotiate a peace deal, Xinhua reported.

Tech chiefs join state dinner

The guest list for Thursday’s state dinner included CEOs like Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Despite such an array, people familiar with US plans say Trump is likely to maintain firm export controls on US tech Xi wants loosened.

Trump-Xi state dinner guest list

D Vance, Vice President
Usha Vance, Second Lady
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State
Jeanette Rubio, Spouse of Marco Rubio
Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff
David Perdue, US Ambassador to China
Bonnie Perdue, Spouse of David Perdue
Scott Bessent, US Secretary of the Treasury
John Freeman, Spouse of Scott Bessent
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
Jamieson Greer, US Trade Representative
Marlo Greer, Spouse of Jamieson Greer
John Roberts, US Supreme Court
Jane Sullivan Roberts, Spouse of John Roberts
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, US Supreme Court
Jesse Barrett, Spouse of Amy Coney Barrett
Brett Kavanaugh, US Supreme Court
Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, Spouse of Brett Kavanaugh
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Kelly Johnson, Spouse of Mike Johnson
Richard McCormick, Member of the US House of Representatives
Kevin Warsh, Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Jane Lauder, Spouse of Kevin Warsh
Howard Lutnick, US Secretary of Commerce
Allison Lutnick, Spouse of Howard Lutnick
John Ratcliffe, CIA Director
Michele Ratcliffe, Spouse to John Ratcliffe
Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy to Middle East
Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Katie Miller, Spouse of Stephen Miller
Dan Scavino, White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Erin Scavino, Spouse of Dan Scavino
Todd Blanche, Attorney General
Kristine Blanche, Spouse to Todd Blanche
Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services
Cheryl Hines, Spouse of Secretary Kennedy
Linda McMahon, US Secretary of Education
Doug Burgum, Secretary of Interior
Kathryn Burgum, Spouse of Secretary Burgum
Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation
Rachel Campos-Duffy, Spouse of Sean Duffy
Russell Vought, White House Budget Director
Lee Zeldin, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of Labor
Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Jeffrey Sprecher, Spouse of Kelly Loeffler
Jason Smith, Member of the US House of Representatives
Steven Daines, Member of the US Senate
Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Jay Clayton, Director of National Intelligence

Chinese officials
Cai Qi, Member of the Politburo Standing Committee
Wang Yi, Foreign Minister
He Lifeng, Vice Premier
Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission
Wang Wentao, Commerce Minister
Ma Zhaoxu, Vice Foreign Minister
Xie Feng, Ambassador to the US
Wang Dan, Wife of Ambassador Xie Feng
Tang Fangyu, Director of the Central Policy Research Office
Lan Fo’an, Finance Minister
Zhou Hongxu, Director of the Central Security Bureau
Lyu Luhua, Secretary to President Xi
Hong Lei, Assistant Foreign Minister
Cai Wei, Assistant Foreign Minister
Mao Ning, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Zhang Quan, Secretary to Madame Peng
Zhang Yongchao, Deputy Director General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Other Guests
Ivanka Trump
Eric Trump
Lara Trump
Tiffany Trump
Michael Boulos
Viktor Knavs
Arabella Kushner
Jensen Huang, Nvidia
Lori Huang, Spouse of Jensen Huang
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Platforms
Lisa Su, Advanced Micro Devices
Daniel Lin, Spouse of Lisa Su
Tim Cook, Apple
John F.W. Rogers, Goldman Sachs
Lynn Martin, New York Stock Exchange
Linda Mills, New York University
Eric Yuan, Zoom, CEO
Kelly Ortberg, Boeing
Larry Fink, BlackRock
Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone
Sam Altman, OpenAI
Greg Brockman, OpenAI
Anna Brockman, Wife of Greg Brockman
Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas Sands
Sergey Brin, Google
Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, Partner of Sergey Brin
Satya Nadella, Microsoft
Jim Taiclet, Lockheed Martin
Sundar Pichai, Google
Larry Culp, GE Aerospace
Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron
Sangeeta Mehrotra, Spouse of Sanjay Mehrotra
Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm
Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Spouse of Jeff Bezos
Jeff Yass, Susquehanna International Group
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase
Michael Dell, Dell Technologies
Susan Dell, Spouse of Michael Dell
Mary Barra, General Motors
Anthony Barra, Spouse of Mary Barra
David Solomon, Goldman Sachs
Jane Fraser, Citigroup
Elon Musk, SpaceX
Darren Woods, ExxonMobil
Kathryn Woods, Spouse of Darren Woods
Bret Baier, FOX News
Amy Baier, Spouse of Bret Baier
Laura Ingraham, FOX News
Jesse Watters, FOX News
Emma Watters, Spouse of Jesse Watters
David Ellison, Paramount Skydance
Sandra Lynn Ellison, Spouse of David Ellison
Brad Gerstner, Altimeter
Katie Simpson, Partner of Brad Gerstner
Albert Bourla, Pfizer
David Sacks, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and Craft Ventures
Bernard Arnault, LVMH
Alexandre Arnault, Son of Bernard Arnault
Ryan McInerney, Visa
Michael Miebach, Mastercard
Meredith O’Rourke, The O’Rourke Group