Why is US President Donald Trump visiting China?

US President Donald Trump has landed in China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for an official state visit.

It will be the US's first official visit to the country in nearly a decade and the two-day trip will be spent having important meetings, visiting a temple and attending a formal state banquet.

This is a meeting of two of the world's most powerful leaders and many people think it is an important one, which could shape the relationship of the two nations over the next few years, for better or worse.

They will be discussing important topics such as global trade, the war in Iran, rising tensions in Taiwan, and AI and advanced technologies.

Keep reading to find out more...

The US President landed in Beijing, China on Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday he will be officially greeted with an arrival ceremony at China's Great Hall of the People and a stop at Zhongnanhai, the place where China's top leaders lives and work.

The two presidents will then tour the Temple of Heaven – one of the largest and most important religious sites in China - which dates back to the 15th century. It symbolises the relationship between Earth and heaven.

After visiting the temple, President Trump will spend the evening attending a formal state banquet.

On Friday, Trump will have tea and a working lunch with President Xi before heading back to the US.

Throughout the visit the two leaders will make time for important meetings to discuss world politics.

Global trade and tariffs will likely be one of the big topics Xi Jinping and Donald Trump will discuss.

Last year President Trump announced that he was raising taxes, called tariffs, on all goods coming into the US from the rest of the world.

This meant that it was more expensive for people to do business with the United States (US).

Many of the countries affected by these tariffs were unhappy about them, and as a response China also announced tariffs on some American goods.

Although things have calmed down a little since then, trade between the two countries is still a bit strained.

During the talks Donald Trump is expected to try to push China to buy more US agricultural products, and Xi Jinping is expected to want to encourage the US to drop a recently announced trade probe into unfair business practices that could give Trump the ability to bring back higher tariffs on Chinese goods.

Another big topic for discussion by the two leaders is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics.

In recent years China has heavily invested in AI and robotics, which President Xi hopes will will bring more money into the country.

However this has caused a bit of tension between China and the US, with some US policy makers accusing China of stealing US technology to advance their robotics industries.

This has led to tighter restrictions on the trade of microprocessors and computer chips from the US to China.

However, China processes around 90% of the world's rare earth minerals which are essential for building modern technology like smartphones, wind farms, and jet engines.

So, talks between the two world leaders is expected to focus on the US getting Chinese rare earth minerals, and in return China receiving high-end computer chips to help build more advanced AI and robots.

One big topic that will likely come up in the leaders discussions will be the war in Iran.

In February the US and Israel began an attack on Iran, a country in the Middle East, with President Trump saying it was to try and remove what he called "a threat" from the Iranian government.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attack.

Iran then effectively shut down an important shipping route called the Strait of Hormuz, which runs through it, where many ships transport oil to countries around the world, including the US and China.

This has caused a knock-on effect of problems for countries around the world including making things like fuel more expensive, as it is harder to get hold of.

A ceasefire - which is when fighting stops temporarily - came into effect in April.

China has said that it is keen for peace talks to begin again to bring an end to the war, and President Trump has said he would have a "long talk" about Iran with President Xi.

Something China will want to discuss with the US is Taiwan.

Taiwan is an island around 100 miles off the coast of mainland China.

It is home to more than 24 million people and it makes around 65% of the world's computer chips.

But Taiwan's identity is a very controversial issue.

The Chinese Communist Party, which rules China from Beijing, sees Taiwan as part of one country, that will eventually be under its control again.

But self-ruled Taiwan sees itself as separate from Chinese Communist Party rule, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.

This has led to a lot of tension over the decades.

Last December the US announced that it was selling military equipment to Taiwan, a decision that angered the Chinese government.

So discussions between Trump and Xi will likely be around ensuring that the issue does not become a source of tension between the two superpowers.