Trump set to greet Xi for high-stakes state visit

BEIJING/WASHINGTON — Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to arrive in the United States on Wednesday evening for his first state visit in 11 years, opening high-stakes talks with President Trump at a pivotal moment for both men.It is the second time the leaders are meeting this year after the Beijing summit in May, when they agreed to build a more stable bilateral relationship.Both leaders are trying to shore up power at home.For Trump, the visit comes just over a month before the midterm elections, and for Xi, preparations for an all-important Party Congress start when he returns to Beijing.But despite both countries projecting a willingness to build what China has dubbed a relationship of "constructive strategic stability," fierce negotiations over weighty subjects such as AI and trade are underway."Under the water, the Chinese seem to have done a lot of kicking lately.

And you know, if we have to, we'll kick back," U.S.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox News interview in July.Trump has frequently spoken warmly about how he was treated during his recent visit to China, which included pageantry and a state banquet at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.One of the banquet attendees, Wu Xinbo, who directs the American Studies center at Shanghai's Fudan University, said it was the warmest he had seen in the U.S.-China relations in years.But since then, Wu said, things have been more "fragile.""In the last several months, the U.S.

has continued to contain and pressure China in economic, technological [and] people-to-people exchanges," he said.For example, the U.S.imposed extra tariffs on Chinese exports over forced labor claims, and the Pentagon added Chinese tech giants on a military blacklist.

The Federal Communications Commission banned new imports of Chinese humanoid robots and robot dogs over national security concerns.Ups and downs are to be expected in a relationship as complicated as the U.S.and China's, said international studies professor Zhang ...