President Donald Trump is hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington this week.

Their countries are in a growing economic and tech fight.

This is especially about artificial intelligence.

Neither side expects a big deal.

But both want to keep their weak ties steady.

This is their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House.

Sen. Steve Daines is a Montana Republican.

He advises Trump on China.

He said the meeting and the talks matter as much as any result.

Former Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai said the two countries always have problems.

Sometimes the problems are very big.

But they will try to keep things mostly stable.

Xi's visit is his first to Washington in 10 years.

It comes after last year's intense trade war.

Then, both sides raised tariffs.

China also limited important mineral supplies.

Both sides want stability because they compete deeply.

That is what Evan Medeiros of The Asia Group consultancy said.

He said they are like two strong leaders circling each other.

Da Wei of Tsinghua University said the countries may be entering a "new normal" of overall stability.

He said they need to move fast on deals their governments can carry out.

AI is a key battleground.

Trump has said whoever wins AI wins.

On Monday, he said the U.S. leads China.

China's security minister, Chen Yixin, wrote a rare essay.

He warned that AI threatens Communist Party rule if hostile forces get better capabilities.

The U.S. limits AI chip exports to China.

It also says Chinese developers take American models at scale.

Beijing says this practice is common.

It criticizes U.S. efforts to control the industry.

Still, the two sides are taking a small step on AI.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. proposed a "notification mechanism" for AI incidents.

These incidents affect national security.

Both countries still blacklist some companies.

They also ban some products.

The U.S. has targeted Chinese telecom and surveillance equipment.

It has also targeted firms accused of forced labor in Xinjiang.

And it has targeted advanced robots and drones.

Beijing responded with export controls on drones.

It also blacklisted six U.S. companies over Xinjiang-related measures.

The Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs this year.

After that, the administration imposed them in other ways.

In July, the White House set a 12.5% tariff on imports from 60 trading partners.

China is one of them.

It plans an extra 7.5% tariff on China.

Analysts say both sides can accept current tariff levels.

But a big increase could bring back tensions.

On Iran, Washington is pressing to isolate Tehran.

But Beijing insists on its right to trade with Iran.

Trump paused a large weapons package to Taiwan.

This was after his May trip to Beijing.

Analysts say Xi will likely press him to delay arms sales more.