Meeting executives including hedge fund boss Ray Dalio and Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong in Beijing's ornate Great Hall of the People, Xi warned that "unilateralism and protectionism" were on the rise.

Trade between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, is vast, totalling more than $530 billion in 2024.

Beijing has unveiled a string of aggressive measures in recent months aimed at bolstering growth, including cutting interest rates, cancelling restrictions on home buying and easing the debt burden on local governments.

The world's two largest economies have butted heads on a range of issues in recent years, from trade and technology to human rights and China's growing assertiveness towards the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

The Chinese leader was widely expected to miss the ceremony

Former US president Donald Trump -- who returns to the White House next month -- unleashed a gruelling trade war with China during his first term in office, lambasting alleged intellectual property theft and other "unfair" practices.

Xi Jinping's government has made it difficult for Bitcoin and crypto to flourish in China, but David Bailey revealed Tuesday that the Chinese president has supposedly changed his views.

The British premier brought up his concerns over sanctioned lawmakers, human rights, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the case of former media mogul Jimmy Lai

China has already outlined four "red lines" that Donald Trump cannot cross once he becomes president during a meeting with President Joe Biden this weekend.

US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend the first day of an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit Friday ahead of a face-to-face meeting under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump's election victory.

Both leaders will be in Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in what will be their first meeting since Trump got elected

Biden and Xi will likely "take stock of efforts to responsibly manage competition," a senior US administration official told reporters Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Xi will join leaders from the United States and other Asia-Pacific nations in the Peruvian capital Lima for the APEC gathering, after which he will go to Brazil for a G20 summit.

Trump's crushing presidential victory ushers in a new era of uncertainty in the United States and the world, and heralds a possible shift in US-China relations, frayed in recent years by tensions over everything from trade to the status of self-ruled Taiwan.

Xi said China was "ready to join Putin to constantly expand all-round pragmatic cooperation between (our) two countries", state news agency Xinhua said.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged over $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing's biggest summit since the pandemic.

Jake Sullivan, the first US national security advisor to visit China since 2016, met with Xi as he wrapped up three days of talks in the Chinese capital which also saw him meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking officials.

Chinese leaders have called for "eliminating risks" in the economy following a key political meeting in July and introduced 20 measures earlier this month aimed at boosting consumption.

Over the last three years, China has been the largest source of illegal migration from any nation outside the Americas

China posted lower than expected growth in the second quarter on Monday, with all eyes on how top officials gathering for a key meeting in Beijing might seek to tackle the country's deepening economic malaise.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying the "international community should create conditions and provide assistance for the two sides to resume direct dialogue and negotiations".

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Thursday for a peace conference on the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas as he addressed Arab leaders and diplomats at a forum in Beijing.

On Thursday, Putin arrived in China on a two-day visit as Moscow is seeking more support from President Xi Jinping for the war effort in Ukraine following multiple rounds of Western sanctions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest on Thursday in a bid to strengthen already flourishing ties between Beijing and its closest EU ally.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks with his Serbian counterpart in Belgrade on Wednesday, as Beijing seeks to deepen its political and economic ties with friendlier countries in Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday is to host Chinese leader Xi Jinping at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees mountains, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia's war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade.

French President Emmanuel Macron was on Monday set to warn Chinese leader Xi Jinping against backing Russia in the conflict over Ukraine but also seek to enlist his help in finding an end to the war.

The world's second-biggest economy is seeking to deepen political and economic ties in Europe to counterbalance difficult relations with rival Washington.

The nearly two-hour telephone conversation was the two leaders' first direct interaction since a summit in November in California that saw a marked thaw in tone, if not the long-term rivalry, between the world's two largest economies.

The number of publicly disclosed investigations into senior-level officials rose by 40 percent last year compared with 2022, according to a tally by the Hong Kong-based news outlet South China Morning Post.