Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, marking the first visit by a
sitting US president in nearly a decade. The leaders held a welcome ceremony at
the Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square, with honor guards and staged
pageantry. Relations have stabilized since their October meeting in Busan,
though tensions persist over the US-Israel conflict with Iran, rare earth supply
dominance, and US export controls on advanced chips. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio said the China relationship is the US’s “top political and geopolitical
challenge,” noting areas of both cooperation and strategic conflict.
