President Donald Trump on Thursday praised the “truly great friendship” he has built with Xi Jinping, as the Chinese leader began his eagerly awaited state visit by pressing for the world’s two largest economies to work more closely together to avoid friction as they compete.

Although Trump had many contentious issues to discuss with the president of America's biggest economic rival, he focused on his long relationship with Xi as the two gathered with aides for opening remarks before formal talks.

"Since my first election in 2016, President Xi and I have built a friendship—a truly great one, in fact—founded on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people," Trump said.

China has rebuffed the Trump administration's urgings — and economic threats — to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran into agreeing to U.S. terms to end the nearly seven-month war.

Xi wants to see Trump permanently halt arms sales to Taiwan and loosen export restrictions on cutting-edge advanced chips.

The two sides on Wednesday agreed to extend by two months a one-year trade truce that was set to expire Nov. 10 as they work to find a more durable agreement.

During their private deliberations, Xi additionally exhorted Trump to “prudently handle the Taiwan issue,” as reported by the Chinese state media outlet Xinhua.

China has made unequivocally clear that it regards Taiwan as the most sensitive issue in the U.S.-China relationship.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be Chinese territory and has vowed to annex the island by force if necessary.

The United States is legally obligated to furnish Taiwan with sufficient hardware to deter any armed attack from the mainland.

The U.S. has stated that it opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.

China has repeatedly urged Washington to definitively cease its arms sales, notably during the meeting between Trump and Xi in Beijing in May.

Following that meeting, Trump stated that he was deferring final approval of a record $14 billion arms package that was already in the pipeline.

He further characterised arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

Xi was also more pointed than Trump in his public remarks, saying Chinese and American interests are “deeply intertwined” and that the “competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within bounds.”

He also repeated his warning that the U.S. and China must avoid the “Thucydides trap,” which describes the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established one, war often results.

Xi gave a similar warning when Trump visited Beijing in May.

"It ought to be a race of catching up with one another, rather than a wrestle in which one either wins or loses," Xi added.

Xi additionally proclaimed that China will extend invitations to 100,000 young Americans to visit his nation for the purposes of study and exchange over the forthcoming five years, and that China will dispatch two pandas to the zoo in Atlanta.

He characterized the cherished creatures as an “envoy of friendship,” adding that they will make their acquaintance with the American people in a “few days.”

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In a social media post earlier Thursday, Trump said that artificial intelligence — “superintelligence,” as he is trying to rebrand it — would be high on the agenda amid growing global anxiety that the technology will kill jobs or potentially even wipe out humanity.

“I want to leave it exactly where it is,” Trump wrote.

“That is China’s position also.”

Xi also addressed AI in his opening remarks, asserting that both nations bore a responsibility to guarantee that humans always maintain control over AI.

"We have both the ability and the duty to develop and manage AI for good, and to ensure that AI development always remains under human control and serves people's well-being," the Chinese leader said.

The finance ministers of the two countries met earlier this week, and the United States proposed a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents between the two nations.

Trump has made it unequivocally clear that he intends to impress Xi through this visit.

The Republican president ensured that the construction of a new helicopter landing pad on the White House’s South Lawn was finished prior to the visit, and he greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on Wednesday evening upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

The White House had additionally orchestrated an elaborate military review, which the leaders and their spouses observed prior to the discussions in the Oval Office.

Subsequent to the military review, first lady Melania Trump accompanied Peng on a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.

Following roughly 90 minutes of discussions, the leaders emerged onto the South Lawn, where Trump showcased the newly constructed White House helipad and conducted a tour of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, for Xi.

Trump and Xi also seemed to inspect the ballroom construction site from a distance.

Xi departed the White House shortly after the brief tour and was scheduled to return in the evening for the state dinner.

“We had a remarkably productive meeting,” Trump remarked during a brief exchange with reporters following the tour.

Later, the leaders will dine on sea bass at a black-tie dinner in the White House East Room, featuring red décor and a toast honoring the late President Richard Nixon, whose 1972 trip to China led to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979 and the parallel severing of formal ties with Taiwan.

Trump’s decision to extend a red-carpet welcome to Xi has provoked censure from legislators in both parties as well as certain White House confederates.

"Quite frankly, had the White House sought my advice, I would have advised the president against inviting Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America, given all the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party," said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

The two sides additionally deliberated over the ongoing conflict in Iran, as reported by the Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television.

Trump has argued, with little success, that China, which depends far more on Gulf oil than the U.S., has ample incentive to use its influence with Tehran to help force an end to the conflict.

Yet Trump’s war of choice has unsettled Beijing, leading the government to condemn the U.S. and Israeli military action, while Xi had previously voiced concerns that the conflict signaled a return to what he called the “law of the jungle.”

The U.S. administration has warned China, Tehran’s biggest trading partner, not to aid Iran’s military effort.

During Thursday’s talks, Xi said China supports the U.S. and Iran returning to a short-lived interim deal from the summer in an effort to wind down the war, according to CCTV.

That agreement broke down soon after it was signed in June as the countries traded renewed fire over control of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for energy shipments.