Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington where he was to be met with a rare planeside greeting from President Donald Trump, who was there to welcome his counterpart on the tarmac instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House. 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 as he made his first state visit to the US capital in more than a decade.