Trump hails ‘truly great friendship’ with China’s Xi Jinping as high-stakes summit between economic rivals begins

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the “truly great friendship” he has forged with Xi Jinping as the Chinese leader began his highly anticipated state visit.While Trump has many thorny 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.“From the time of my first election in 2016, President Xi and I have forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually, built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people,” Trump said.Trump and Xi have no shortage of difficult issues to cover when they sit down for the private discussions.Xi speaks of a ‘healthy’ competition and says Chinese pandas are coming to AtlantaChina has resisted the Trump administration's urgings — and economic threats — to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree 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.Xi said in his remarks upon arriving that the “competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within bounds."“It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which one either wins or loses,” Xi added.Xi also announced that China will invite 100,000 American youth to come to his country for studies and exchanges in the next five years and that China will send two pandas to the zoo in Atlanta. He called the beloved animals an “envoy of friendship.”Xi says China and US should make sure AI is ‘always under human control’All the while, both leaders seem to believe that time is on their side as they look to outmaneuver the other in what is expected to be the world's most significant economic and national security competition for years to come.Trump said in a social media post earlier Thursday that artificial intelligence — “superintelligence” as he is trying to rebrand it — will 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 touched on AI… “That is China’s position also.”Xi also touched on artificial intelligence in his opening comments, saying that the two countries had a responsibility to ensure that humans always operate AI.“We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that a development of AI is always under human control and serves the well being of the people,” the Chinese leader said.The two countries’ finance ministers met earlier this week, with the U.… WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump hails ‘truly great friendship’ with China’s Xi Jinping as high-stakes summit between economic rivals begins.