The president Donald Trump attended a state banquet dinner held in his honor by Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, a formal event that is the most solemn part of the state visit that the U.S. leader is making to China from May 13 to 15.
The official account of the White House on X shared a video showing Trump and members of his delegation arriving inside the monumental building, with its distinctive golden panel walls and red columns adorned with gold decorations, all set in an atmosphere of utmost diplomatic solemnity.
The banquet is the climax of an intense day that included a formal welcome ceremony on the steps of the Grand Hall, featuring a 21-gun salute and the U.S. national anthem performed by a military band, followed by a bilateral meeting lasting approximately two and a half hours and a cultural visit to the Temple of Heaven.
In the bilateral meeting, Trump described the encounter as "probably the greatest summit in history" and stated that "the relationship between China and the U.S. is going to be better than ever".
Xi Jinping, for his part, opened the meeting by urging Washington to "be partners and not rivals" and stated that "the common interests of China and the U.S. outweigh their differences."
Trump also highlighted the composition of his business delegation: "I didn't want the second or third in command from the company; I wanted only the best, and they are here today to pay their respects to you and to China."
The delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and executives Elon Musk (Tesla), Tim Cook (Apple), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia), who joined at the last minute during the stop of Air Force One in Alaska.
Trump landed on Wednesday at Beijing Capital International Airport at 7:50 PM local time aboard Air Force One, welcomed by Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng in a ceremony featuring a red carpet and military honors.
This is the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to China in nearly nine years, and the first by Trump to the Asian country since November 2017, when Xi hosted a private banquet in the Forbidden City.
Unlike that occasion, Melania Trump is not accompanying the president on this trip.
The summit is part of the commercial easing process initiated following the truce agreed upon in Busan, South Korea, in October 2025, which suspended tariffs that had escalated to 145% by Washington and 125% by Beijing.
The banquet menu likely includes Huaiyang cuisine, featuring dishes such as "lion's head" pork meatballs, Yangzhou fried rice, sweet and sour fish, and Wensi tofu, which is considered the most refined option in Chinese culinary diplomacy.
The Chatham House Institute warned that "the short agenda reflects a shared preference for managing rivalry rather than resolving it," a sentiment that captures the tone of a summit filled with symbolic gestures but still marked by unresolved structural tensions regarding Taiwan, technology, and global competition.
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