Washington, September 25 (QNA) - US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed relations between the two countries, including trade, artificial intelligence and security, as well as several international and regional issues, during their summit at the White House yesterday.

US media reported that Trump said the United States and China had made significant progress on trade and other issues, noting that the two countries were working toward a more balanced trade relationship and stressing the importance of cooperation and benefiting from their shared interests. He also described his relationship with Xi as a great friendship based on mutual respect and the vital interests of the two peoples.

For his part, Xi Jinping said the two countries' economic and trade teams had held a new round of consultations and reached a new common arrangement, describing it as good news for industries, the two peoples and the global economy.

According to China's Xinhua News Agency, President Xi stressed that stabilizing China-US economic and trade relations required expanding areas of cooperation and narrowing the list of contentious issues.

In this context, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend their trade truce until Jan. 10, 2027, allowing more time to continue negotiations on outstanding trade and economic issues.

Full details of the new trade arrangement have yet to be announced. Key issues under discussion include tariffs, Chinese purchases of US products, supplies of rare earth minerals and technology restrictions.

On artificial intelligence, Trump said technology and AI, which he described as "superintelligence," were among the important issues in US-China relations. He stressed that decisions taken by the two countries in these areas could contribute to peace and prosperity in the coming decades, adding that the United States and China should continue dialogue and strengthen cooperation in this field.

The Chinese President, meanwhile, called on the two countries to capitalize on each other's strengths in artificial intelligence, continue dialogue and exchange views on its risks and benefits, and work together to prevent its misuse while ensuring that its development and use remain under human control and serve people's well-being.

The two presidents stressed the importance of cooperation and managing differences between their countries. They also discussed several international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East, the Ukraine crisis and the Korean Peninsula.

Regarding the situation in the Middle East, Xi called on the United States and Iran to return to the path of dialogue and negotiations. He expressed China's support for the two sides returning to the memorandum of understanding they reached in Islamabad, with a view to reaching a comprehensive agreement on the nuclear issue and other matters.

The summit follows a meeting between the two presidents in Beijing last May, when they agreed to build a constructive US-China relationship based on strategic stability while strengthening cooperation and managing differences between the two countries.

Xi's visit to Washington is his first in more than a decade, while the current meeting marks the second face-to-face meeting between the two presidents this year. It comes as both sides seek to stabilize their trade relationship and contain remaining differences while managing strategic issues that extend beyond bilateral relations to regional and international security and stability. (QNA)