Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi to Mar-a-Lago

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his US counterpart Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday in the first face-to-face contact between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.

President Xi arrived at the Palm Beach International Airport earlier in the day, where he was greeted by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were also welcomed by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the oceanfront resort, also known as the “Winter White House,” before making their way to a banquet hosted by the Trumps.

During his two-day stay in Florida, Xi is scheduled to hold talks with Trump over bilateral ties and major regional and global issues of common concern.

Under the current international circumstances, "the meeting will be of great significance to charting China-US relationship in a new era, advancing the development of bilateral ties in a healthy and stable way from a new starting point, and promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large," Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told a press conference last week.

Late last month, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at a press briefing that Trump sees the meeting as an opportunity for him "to develop a relationship in person with President Xi."

The US president, he added, "looks forward to meeting with President Xi and exchanging views on each other's respective priorities, and to chart a way forward on a bilateral relationship between our two nations."