Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Washington, to be met with a rare airport greeting from President Donald Trump to kick off a three-day visit to the US.

Trump’s decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington – rather than receiving him at the executive residence – shows how far the US President is going to honour China’s leader on his first state visit to the US capital in more than a decade.

Trump and first lady Melania were at the base for an arrival ceremony for Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan. The salutation began a state visit that’s expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards.

The visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday (US time), is supposed to reciprocate for the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump’s May visit to China.

But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan.

Beyond using the visit to try to keep “strategic stability” between the two countries, Trump seems to be pulling out all the diplomatic stops to show off for Xi.

Trump has lavished praise on Xi as a “great leader” and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend. That is all while he has given Xi a pass on many issues.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US and China must interact at the highest levels because the countries are “the two largest economies in the world” and “probably the two most powerful militaries in the world.”

“The idea that we would not interact with them at the highest levels is irresponsible. It’s outrageous. We have to,” Rubio said in New York.

Trump on Wednesday was looking to match the pageantry that China showed off earlier this year. Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump, sending Chinese Vice President Han Zheng instead.

But a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. There was also a military honour guard, military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!”.

Melania Trump said earlier on Wednesday that her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrived in the Washington region because “they have a great relationship.”

“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife during an interview on Fox News.

Trump’s airport ceremony for Xi will be followed on Thursday by more formalities, including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Before the black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders such as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.

On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.

-AAP