Xi warned Trump that Taiwan was the key issue between the two countries, and could put them in conflict with each other- if not handled carefully, as ITV News Asia Correspondent Debi Edward reports
Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the White House after a series of talks in Beijing.
Both leaders addressed a state banquet on Thursday, focusing on the stability of relations between the two countries.
Trump invited Xi and his wife, Madame Peng, to visit the US on September 24.
Meanwhile, Xi described the relationship between the two countries as the world’s most consequential, warning that both sides must “never mess it up”.
“Both China and the United States stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Our two countries should be partners rather than rivals,” he said.
“President Trump and I also agreed to build a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability to promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations and bring more peace, prosperity and progress to the world.”
Trump said the two countries had “much in common,” pointing to shared values of “hard work,” “courage” and “achievement,” adding: “The world is a special world with the two of us united and together.”
Away from the state banquet, trade discussions have taken precedence over thornier issues, including Iran, Taiwan, Ukraine, and North Korea.
Earlier, in their closed-door meeting, Xi told Trump that if Taiwan is handled well, US-China relations “will enjoy overall stability”.
If not, the two countries risk “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Xi said, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.
But the Chinese also highlighted how pivotal the issue is for Beijing, with a foreign ministry spokesperson saying Xi told Trump: “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations.”
The spokesperson said: “If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”
Trump in December authorised an $11 billion (£8.1bn) arms package for Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. The US has not yet moved forward with delivery.
Trump heaped praise on Xi, saying: “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”
But Xi was darker in his remarks, expressing hope that the US and China could avoid conflict and asking “whether the two countries can transcend the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new model for relations between major powers”.
He used a term popular in foreign policy studies, referring to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established power, the result is often war.
“Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both,” Xi said. “The two countries should be partners rather than rivals.”
Xi has mentioned the Thucydides Trap before about US-China relations, dating back as early as 2014.
On the business and trade front, Xi was more welcoming and said China’s door of opening to US business will only open wider, he told American corporate leaders who accompanied Trump.
The US president said the business leaders all respect and value China, and he encourages them to expand cooperation with China, Xinhua reported.
Trump told Xi during another previous meeting with the business leaders that included the likes of Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook, “I didn’t want the second or the third in the company, I wanted only the top, and they’re here today to pay respects to you and to China.”
The comment went viral on Chinese social media, with it becoming the second trending topic on the Weibo social media platform.
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