Trump to welcome Xi on tarmac as Washington hosts rare state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, with President Donald Trump breaking with recent protocol to personally welcome him at Joint Base Andrews.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at the Maryland military base for the arrival ceremony for Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The unusual planeside reception underscores the ceremonial importance Washington has attached to Xi’s first state visit to the US capital in more than a decade.

The visit will combine elaborate pageantry with difficult negotiations over trade, technology, Taiwan, Iran and other disputes between the world's two biggest economic powers.