The visit marks Xi's first state visit to the United States in just under a decade and his third meeting with Trump since the US president began his second term in office. The high-stakes trip comes as a US-China trade agreement reached last year is due to expire in November.
The trade truce, reached in October 2025 when Trump and Xi met in South Korea, saw Washington suspend steep tariff increases on Chinese goods while Beijing eased back from restricting rare earth exports critical for manufacturing. Experts will be watching for an announcement on a possible extension of the agreement during Xi's visit.
Xi's trip to Washington, which ends on Friday, will include formal ceremonies, lavish dinners, private tours and performances. David Sacks, a fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, described the planned welcome by Trump as "really unprecedented."
"From meeting Xi Jinping at Andrews Air Force Base to having a flyover for Xi as well, this is not something afforded to any US ally," Sacks said, "much less an adversary like China."
"It's quite, quite stunning," he continued.
Trump is expected to address several issues with Xi, particularly tariffs and trade. The US president has long criticised his country's trade deficit with China, which stands at more than $91bn (£68.2bn), according to the latest US Census Bureau data. The Census Bureau's latest figures show a US goods trade deficit with China of $91.2177bn for January through July 2026.
Chinese rare earth exports to the US are also down despite the agreement reached last October.
US and Chinese officials held trade talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday but failed to make meaningful progress ahead of the Xi visit, multiple sources told the BBC.
The talks focused on finding areas of agreement around non-tariff trade issues and agricultural exports, according to sources familiar with White House thinking. US negotiators are expected to continue talks with their Chinese counterparts.
Another likely talking point between Trump and Xi is artificial intelligence, a topic that David Firestein from the Bush China Foundation said has "climbed rapidly toward the top of the agenda" ahead of the visit.
China and the US are competing in what has been described as an AI arms race. But after a series of recent high-profile security incidents involving the emergent technology, there has been growing pressure on the Trump administration to regulate AI and slow its development.
Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on X this week: "For the sake of all humanity, Trump and Xi must negotiate a treaty NOW to pause AI and ban superintelligence before it's too late."
Trump's former White House advisor Steve Bannon and some Republicans in Congress have also warned about dangers posed by AI.
The president, who views the technology as vital to the US economy and a battleground in a global struggle for power, has been reluctant to slow its development. He views defeating China in the AI race as a primary objective. "Whoever wins AI, wins," Trump has said.
On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng and said the two had "very successful" talks on trade and AI.
Experts who spoke to the BBC said any major breakthroughs on AI or other issues are unlikely to occur during the many Trump-Xi meetings planned this week.
Then there is Taiwan, which remains an ongoing diplomatic thorn.
The US Congress has approved a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan that awaits Trump's signature. He has held off for now, viewing the move as a bargaining chip with China.
China has long vowed to "reunify" with self-governing Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force.
Firestein said he expects Xi will be looking for Trump to either commit to extending the delay of the arms sale or somehow avoiding the sale altogether. Reuters has also reported that Xi is expected to press Trump to halt US arms sales to Taiwan during the Washington visit.
Xi, like Trump, is also facing economic headwinds at home and is expected to use the visit as an opportunity to discuss deepening US-China trade.
However, that presents a potential political problem for Trump. Some members of his cabinet and his supporters view China with deep suspicion.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a letter to Ford Motor Company in September, urging the company to cut ties with China due to national security concerns and protection of American jobs.
Regardless of the clear hurdles that remain before any new US-China deals are inked, Trump has made clear that he views personal contact with Xi as vital to the process.
"Trump has made a decision that no matter what, we need to not have a confrontational relationship with China," Stephen Orlins, president at the National Committee on US-China Relations, said.
"He believes that the more he and President Xi meet, the less confrontational that relationship will be," Orlins continued, "and he is right."
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