President Xi embarks on state visit to US; China-US dialogue to come

President Xi Jinping has left Beijing for a state visit to the US at the invitation of US President Donald Trump.

Trump anticipated he and Xi will have great dialogue during the state visit.

Meanwhile, China's Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said managing differences hinges on good faith, and Washington should stop "fabricating pretexts" such as national security, economic imbalances and forced labour to try to constrain China.

Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US President Donald Trump appeared optimistic that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have productive talks during Xi's state visit to the US.

TRUMP: "We're going to talk about a lot. It's going to be a great meeting. And we're going have a, look, we have a very good relationship. Look, he likes China, I like the US. He loves China, I love the US. That's the way it is, but we're gonna have a big, it's a big deal tomorrow night, I'll tell you. Everybody wants to be there, everybody wants to be there. I wish we had the ballroom, if we had the ballroom, we could have 2,000 people. But we have a small room."

Meanwhile, China's Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said managing differences hinges on good faith, and the US should stop "fabricating pretexts" such as national security, economic imbalances and forced labour to try to and constrain China.

When China and the US cooperate, both benefit, but when they confront each other, both suffer, he added.

"China's sovereignty, security, and development interests cannot be violated, and four red lines, the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, development paths and systems, and development rights cannot be challenged," Xie said.

He added "China is committed to pursuing peaceful development and hopes the US will move toward this as well."

After a fierce trade war last year, Xi and Trump agreed in May to keep their relationship stable and maintain a fragile truce.

That truce hasn't ended the broader competition between the two countries.

Tensions continue to escalate across technology, national security and the global fight for influence.

Director, China Power Project BONNY LIN: "Both leaders are having this meeting to be able to showcase that they're trying to manage the relationship, they're trying to make sure the competition that is happening below the leadership level does not spiral out of control."