BEIJING: "We're going to have a fantastic future together," US President Donald Trump said at the start of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday (May 14).
He praised his host as a "great leader," adding: "Sometimes people don't like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it's true."
Xi said he was convinced that the common interests between the United States and China were greater than their differences. He also raised the question whether the two countries could create a "new model for relations between great powers."
The Chinese president referred to the "Thucydides Trap," a term used to describe the risk of a dangerous rivalry between a rising power and an established leading power.
Government representatives from both sides responsible for finance, trade, defence and foreign affairs were also seated at the long negotiating table.
Xi is due to host Trump at a state banquet in the evening. Trump is set to leave China on Friday. - dpa
