White House Releases Full Itinerary for Xi Jinping’s Sept. 23–25 State Visit to Washington

The White House has released a detailed itinerary for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Sept. 23-25 state visit to Washington, laying out a rare full state-visit program centered on a formal arrival ceremony and state dinner on Sept. 24.

The schedule, posted Sept. 21 by the White House Office of the First Lady, confirms the highest level of diplomatic protocol for Xi’s trip — the first formal state visit to the United States by China’s leader since Xi’s 2015 visit during the Obama administration. China’s Foreign Ministry separately confirmed the dates, saying: “At the invitation of President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump, President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25.”

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to welcome Xi and Peng Liyuan to the White House on Thursday, Sept. 24, for the official state visit. Xi is due to arrive in the Washington area a day earlier, on Sept. 23, and will be greeted at Joint Base Andrews, according to the White House release.

The centerpiece of the visit will be the official state arrival ceremony on the morning of Sept. 24, spanning the South Lawn, State Floor and Rose Garden. The White House said the ceremony “will feature 479 military personnel, representing all branches of the United States Armed Forces.” It is also set to include both national anthems, remarks by Trump and Xi, a military review and a flyover featuring a B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptors.

Later that day, Melania Trump and Peng are scheduled to visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. On the evening of Sept. 24, the White House will host a state dinner honoring Xi and Peng in the East Room. The White House said additional details about the dinner will be released Sept. 23.

The visit will continue Friday morning, Sept. 25, when Trump and Melania Trump are scheduled to greet Xi and Peng at the South Portico for tea in the Red Room. After that, the two couples are to travel to the National Archives to view important records. The visit will conclude with a farewell at the National Archives, according to the White House schedule.

State visits are the most formal category of diplomatic visit to the United States, combining ceremony with leader-level talks. The newly released itinerary underscores both sides of that tradition, pairing military pageantry and a state dinner with museum and archives stops and next-day programming. The White House release did not announce any policy agreements tied to the visit.

The trip follows Trump’s visit to Beijing in May, when he invited Xi to visit the United States, making this week’s visit a reciprocal exchange between the two leaders.

Ahead of the summit, senior U.S. and Chinese officials met in New York for preparatory talks. On Sept. 20, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng. The Associated Press reported that Bessent said the United States had proposed an AI-incident notification mechanism and a U.S.-China AI dialogue. Bessent said, “We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats.” No agreements were announced in the White House itinerary release.