Xi's upcoming US visit to chart course for bilateral ties

BEIJING -- At the invitation of US President Donald Trump, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from Sept 23 to 25, marking an exchange of visits between the two leaders within six months.

As changes unseen in a century are accelerating and uncertainties continue to grow around the world, the visit is expected to bring greater stability and predictability to China-US relations and beyond.

CONSTRUCTIVE STRATEGIC STABILITY

China-US ties have been widely regarded as the world's most important bilateral relationship. More than 50 years ago, leaders from both countries, with remarkable courage and political vision, took the historic step of breaking the ice.

Since then, the relationship has repeatedly found a way forward despite tensions and setbacks, with head-of-state diplomacy consistently providing strategic guidance.

In recent years, China-US relations have weathered ups and downs. How the world's two major countries manage their relationship matters far beyond their own borders.

Hosting Trump in Beijing in May, Xi underscored the responsibilities shouldered by both countries in these changing times.

"Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major-country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world? Can we build a bright future together for our bilateral relations in the interest of the well-being of the two peoples and the future of humanity? These are the questions vital to history, to the world and to the people," said Xi.

Xi has repeatedly said that the broad Pacific Ocean is vast enough to embrace both China and the United States. He has also urged the two sides to be partners and friends, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of the two countries and the whole world.

Since Trump's return to the White House in 2025, the two leaders have stayed in close contact, speaking by phone many times, exchanging letters on several occasions and meeting face to face twice since late last year.

"I look forward to working together with you to set the course and steer the giant ship of China-US relations, so as to make 2026 a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations," Xi said in his meeting with Trump in May.

It was during their Beijing meeting that the two leaders agreed on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability, providing strategic guidance for bilateral ties over the next three years and beyond.

"The building of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability should not be a mere slogan, but concrete action taken by both sides toward the same goal," Xi said.

He outlined the "constructive strategic stability" as a positive stability with cooperation as the mainstay, a sound stability with moderate competition, a constant stability with manageable differences, and an enduring stability with promises of peace.

"The most important thing that comes out of leader-level meetings is that when the two leaders meet, they're able to build trust, and when they build trust, then everything else becomes easier," said Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council.

"So for us, that's the most important thing we're looking for when President Xi travels to Washington to meet President Trump," he added.