Xi visit to Washington all pomp but little progress so far

This video can not be played A red carpet and military flyover - How Trump welcomed Xi At least so far, Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington has been all pomp and little obvious progress on pressing issues. From the ceremonial welcoming at a military air base on Wednesday to the honour-guard arrival at the White House this morning, President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet – literally and figuratively – for his Chinese counterpart. The public remarks from the two leaders have teemed with warm words and diplomatic niceties. In a statement before today's formal meetings, Xi announced a gift of Chinese pandas and unveiled a new student exchange programme. "Let us keep advancing the cause of friendship between our two peoples and work together to build a better world," he said. Trump, for his part, outlined some of the topics the leaders planned to discuss in their meetings, including "pressing issues concerning security, technology, and superintelligence" - using his preferred term for artificial intelligence. Trump says he and Xi held 'great meeting' as Chinese leader visits White House "The decisions we make in these areas today can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come," he said. The marching bands and military flyovers on Thursday may serve a larger purpose, however – at least for Trump. "This is a little bit of intentional pageantry to talk up the positive vibes of the summit," Jennifer Welch, chief economic analyst for Bloomberg Economics, told the BBC. "This is very much how President Trump sees the summit and the role he plays in the US-China relationship, as ballast to provide stability." Even so, there is still an edge to some of Xi's rhetoric, she notes. In remarks at the White House, the Chinese leader again mentioned the "Thucydides trap" – a theory that shifts in global power tend to lead to conflict between rising and declining nations. "China and the United States are different in national conditions, but through candid, in-depth and continued dialogue, our two countries can understand each other better, seek common ground while shelving differences, and build up mutual trust," Xi said. The obstacles in the way of reaching any substantive agreement between the two nations are significant, however. When Trump and Xi met in Beijing in May, the men agreed to form boards of trade and investment to oversee economic interactions, and little more. On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a year-long trade "truce" between the two nations that had kept tariffs lower would be extended another two months.