The Chinese leader cautions the US president that disagreement over Taiwan could send relations down a dangerous path and even lead to conflict.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, that missteps on Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict”, a stark opening salvo as the two leaders meet in Beijing for a summit.

Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend” and extending an invitation for Xi to visit the White House in September.

Beyond the pomp as he welcomed Trump, Xi in less effusive tones said the two sides “should be partners and not rivals” and highlighted the issue of Taiwan – which Beijing claims as its territory – straight off the bat.

“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said on Thursday, according to remarks published by Chinese state media shortly after the start of the talks, which lasted two hours and 15 minutes.

“If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation,” Xi added.

With Trump’s approval ratings dented ⁠by a war with Iran that shows no signs of abating, the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade has taken on added significance as he searches for economic wins.

“There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever,” Trump told Xi in brief opening remarks after a ceremony that featured an honour guard and throngs of children waving flowers and flags at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Xi told Trump that preparatory negotiations between US and Chinese economic and trade teams in South Korea on Wednesday had reached “balanced and positive outcomes”, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a summary of the remarks.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said the “overall message from Beijing to the US is that China is willing to be flexible and accept a level of disagreement on various issues – Iran, trade or technology”.

“But there is one issue China and President Xi cannot be flexible on. That is Taiwan,” she said.

“And everything that Beijing has offered in the last few hours – niceties, friendliness, reaching out a hand to cooperate more closely – is not free and is conditional on one thing: Washington accepts that there is only one China and that Beijing is very serious about getting Taiwan under its control.”