Washington: Chinese President Xi Jinping next week will make his first state visit to the U.S., a White House statement confirmed Tuesday, a trip that comes at a time of increasing disagreement between Washington and Beijing.
President Barack Obama “will host Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, at the White House for an official State Visit on September 25, 2015,” according to the late Tuesday statement.
The prestigious visit, which follows Obama’s trip to Beijing in November, will include a lavish State Dinner at the White House that will be attended by the spouses of both leaders, said the statement.
The visit offers a chance “to expand U.S.-China cooperation on a range of global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual interest, while also enabling President Obama and President Xi to address areas of disagreement constructively,” it added.
Recently, the areas of disagreement have threatened to overshadow areas of cooperation.