Donald Trump said he has forged a “truly great friendship” with Chinese president Xi Jinping as the leader’s state visit gets underway.

The White House has rolled out the red carpet for the visiting world leader, amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.

“During this visit, we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and ‘super intelligence,’” Trump said, using his alternative name for artificial intelligence. “The decisions we make in these areas today can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come.”

Xi used his initial address to emphasise that the US has the “capability and responsibility to manage AI for good”.

“China, US cooperation may not solve every problem in the world, but without our cooperation, it would be hard to solve many of the world’s problems,” he said.

Both countries have clashed over trade, Taiwan and export controls and are fiercely competing in the field of AI. But despite the differences, Trump has dubbed their partnership the “G2”.

The lavish state visit comes as Trump faces international pressure over another G20 invite for President Vladimir Putin as Russia faces ongoing censure for its invasion of Ukraine in a brutal conflict that has now entered its fifth year.

In a statement upon his arrival, Xi voiced hope for a more stable relationship with the United States, saying Beijing and Washington should be “partners, not rivals” and that the “historical logic of peaceful coexistence” between the two countries had not changed.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said artificial intelligence – which he is attempting to rebrand as “Super Intelligence” will be a “big topic of discussion” during the visit.

“A big day with President Xi of China. Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is,” Trump wrote in a social media post, using his preferred term for artificial intelligence.

“That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!” Trump said, referring to the Department of Justice.

Xi’s visit to Washington comes after public alarm about the potential danger posed by AI was raised this month when an Anthropic researcher warned that people building it believed the technology could wipe out humanity by the end of the decade.

Trump has so far resisted concerns about ​AI and has largely embraced ⁠tech companies in his second term. He said last week that critics of AI development were “playing right into the hands of a lot of people that don’t want to see it happen, and that could be political people, ​that could also be China.”

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