CHINA and the US should be partners, not rivals, Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted upon his arrival inWashington on Wednesday, and voiced confidence that the two can find a right way to get along in the new era. China and the US are both great countries, and the two peoples are both great peoples, Xi said in written speech, state run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. In a rare gesture, US President Donald Trump and his wife, MelaniaTrump, greetedXi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, when they landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday. Xi noted that he and Trump had agreed to build a China-US relationship of strategic stability duringTrump’s visit to China in May, which has provided guidance for the future development of bilateral ties.

 

China and the US should work in the same direction, promote a stable relationship featuring cooperation as the mainstay, moderate competition, manageable differences, and promises of peace, Xi said. Meanwhile, 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. “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 private talks.