<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="http://9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> President </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/donald-trumo" rel="" target="" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> has arrived in Beijing for his hotly anticipated talks with </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/china" rel="" target="" title="Chinese"><span>Chinese</span></a><span> President </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/xi-jinping" rel="" target="" title="Xi Jinping"><span>Xi Jinping</span></a><span> on the </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iran"><span>Iran</span></a><span> </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/war" rel="" target="" title="war"><span>war</span></a><span>, </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/trade" rel="" target="" title="trade"><span>trade</span></a><span> and US </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/weapons" rel="" target="" title="arms"><span>arms</span></a><span> sales to Taiwan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The meat of the summit doesn't start until Thursday, when the leaders hold bilateral talks, visit the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops, and take part in a formal banquet. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome on Wednesday night, literally rolling out the red carpet for him after Air Force One landed in the Chinese capital.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victorian-mum-set-to-be-charged-after-using-listening-device-to-investigate-sons-injuries/8e5cf121-adbd-4278-8204-6de320d00174"><strong><span>Mum to be charged after sending son to school with hidden device</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The president was greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China's ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; as well as the US envoy to Beijing, David Perdue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The welcoming ceremony included a military honour guard, a military band and some 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, "Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!" as Trump made his way to his waiting limousine. The youth greeters were decked out in white and robin's-egg blue outfits that matched the paint job of the iconic presidential plane.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're the two superpowers," Trump told reporters as he departed the White House on Tuesday for the long flight to Beijing. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-china-visit-us-president-lands-in-beijing-ahead-of-talks-with-chinese-president-xi-jinping/87c38c9a-f0b3-4e5e-aeed-1023422a4b0f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're the strongest nation on Earth in terms of military. China's considered second."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While Trump likes to project a sense of strength, the visit occurs at a delicate moment for his presidency as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the US and Israel's war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Republican president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American soy beans, beef and aircraft, saying he'll be talking with Xi about trade "more than anything else".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/inquest-to-probe-cops-fatal-tasering-of-grandmother/a60dd823-972e-44d9-96a9-40704723a621"><strong><span>Paramedic's 'absolute shock, disbelief' as gran Tasered</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Trump administration hopes to begin the process of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump's tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Trump is visiting Beijing when Iran continues to dominate his domestic agenda. The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike to levels that could sabotage global economic growth. The US president declared that Xi didn't need to assist in resolving the conflict, even though Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing last week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn't say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control," Trump told reporters Tuesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bikie-to-be-sentenced-over-murder-of-rival-gang-boss/8c8a2e24-0fa6-4976-938b-88a1f3d5f041" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Bikie cops life in jail for 'most heinous type of murder'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Taiwan high on the agenda</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The status of Taiwan also will be a major topic as China is displeased with US plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island that the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump told reporters Monday that he would be discussing with Xi a $US11 billion ($15.18 billion) weapons package for Taiwan that the US administration authorised in December but has not yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the US leader has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that's raising questions about whether Trump could be open to dialling back support for the island democracy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the same time, Taiwan — as the world's leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of AI, with the US importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Chinese Communist Party's news outlet, People's Daily, published a strongly worded editorial ahead of Trump's arrival underscoring that Taiwan is "the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations" and is "the biggest point of risk" between the two nations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Trump says relationship with Xi is on solid footing</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump was already portraying the trip as a success before he even left White House grounds. He openly mused about Xi's planned reciprocal visit to the US later this year, lamenting that the White House ballroom under construction would not be completed in time to properly fete the Chinese leader.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're going to have a great relationship for many, many decades to come," Trump said of the US and China.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump embarked on Air Force One for the big meeting with a coterie of aides, family members and business world titans, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While en route to Beijing, he posted on social media that his "first request" to Xi during the visit will be to ask the Chinese leader to bolster the presence of US firms in China.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People's Republic to an even higher level!" wrote Trump, who is expected to receive a formal ceremonial greeting when he arrives in the Chinese capital on Wednesday evening.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite Trump's outward confidence, China appears to be entering the meeting from "a much stronger place", said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser on Chinese business and economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China would like to reduce tech restrictions on accessing computer chips and find ways to reduce tariffs, among other goals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But even if they don't get much on any of those things, as long as there's not a blow-up in the meeting and President Trump doesn't go away and look to re-escalate, China basically comes out stronger," Kennedy said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met on Wednesday to discuss economic and trade issues at Incheon International Airport, just west of the South Korean capital Seoul, according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Trump wants three-way nuclear arms deal</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump also intends to raise the idea of the US, China and Russia signing a pact that would set limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters ahead of the trip. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>China has previously been cool to entering such a pact. Beijing's arsenal, according to Pentagon estimates, exceeds more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is far from parity with the US and Russia, which each are estimated to have more than 5000 nuclear warheads.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The last nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century. As the treaty was set to expire, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for "a new, improved, and modernised" deal that includes China.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Pentagon estimates China has more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and will have more than 1000 by 2030.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY: </span></strong></em><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via </span></strong></em><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span> and </span></strong></em><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li><li><em><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by </span></strong></em><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li><li><em><strong><span>Sign up to </span></strong></em><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li></ul></div></div>