Reshma Kapadia

Before a closed-door meeting with President Donald Trump, Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday urged cooperation and stronger communication. He said the two rivals should be in a race to catch up with one another, "not a wrestle where one wins versus the other."

Xi's first visit to the White House in a decade comes as the two leaders are trying to manage their rivalry despite increasing friction, including on Iran and in the AI race, which U.S. officials have described as a winner-takes-all battle. Beijing has continued to support Iran as its biggest oil buyer and on other fronts.

Expectations for the summit are limited, but analysts see any sign that the two are seeking more dialogue as positive. Their remarks before the meeting reinforced the idea that both are focused on stability as they contend with a still-sputtering economy in China and growing concerns about affordability in the U.S. amid the war in Iran. Ahead of the meeting, Trump offered a glimpse of what could be on the table, noting an effort to create a more balanced trading relationship with a so-called Board of Trade to manage nonstrategic goods, new market access for American farmers and ranchers, as well as security, technology, and AI-related issues up for discussion.

Xi noted his personal rapport with Trump and efforts by both to increase dialogue between their respective governments, including improving mechanisms and communication between their militaries for crisis prevention.

On AI, Xi said the two countries have the "capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good," and ensure its development is always under human control. Concerns about AI safety are growing in both countries.

But Trump early Thursday reiterated his reluctance to rein in AI. In a social media post, he said he wants "to leave it exactly where it is. That is China's position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!"

Xi also said China is willing to strengthen cooperation on counternarcotics and law enforcement. Trump had imposed tariffs last year on China, citing it as a source for precursor chemicals for fentanyl.

At a time the U.S. is tightening restrictions on international students, Beijing said it was inviting 100,000 young Americans to study in China over the next five years and said Beijing would be sending two pandas to the Atlanta Zoo.

Panda diplomacy aside, analysts note a good deal of friction as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the two countries would extend a truce struck last fall by just two months.

The detente-which hit pause on U.S. escalatory tariffs and other restrictions and on China's restrictions on U.S. access to rare earths-is set to expire Nov. 10. Beijing had looked for a longer extension and many analysts had anticipated an extension of about six months.

The brevity of the extension suggests the two countries weren't able to reach agreement in the pre-negotiations, says Scott Kennedy, senior advisor and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Yet to be seen, he says, is if the deadlock was around the original elements involved in the truce, such as tariffs and export controls, or other issues like the U.S. trying to gain China's help on Iran.