China's President Xi Jinping on Thursday praised a "new positioning" in relations with the United States that envisions cooperation alongside managed competition following his summit with Donald Trump.

Trump's Beijing visit, the first by a U.S. president in nearly ​a decade, runs until Friday, at ​a time ⁠when his Iran war is denting domestic approval ratings ahead of mid-term elections.

Xi said both leaders agreed that building a constructive, strategically stable relationship would guide ties in the next three years and beyond, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

He described such ties as based primarily on cooperation but with measured competition for "a normal stability in which differences are controllable, and a lasting stability in which peace can ⁠be ⁠expected," the ministry added.

Analysts said the reference to "constructive, strategically stable" ties showed China was following a gradation in relations that yields a framework for diplomacy in which it can manage multi-faceted ties with the United States.

"It's new language and I think it reflects China's desire to put more institutional guardrails around U.S.-China relations, both competition and cooperation," ⁠said Joe Mazur, geopolitics analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China.

But frictions, such as those over the Iran conflict and recent U.S. sanctions on Chinese ​firms, continue to "complicate U.S.-China dynamics" and may test the durability ​of the new framework, said Zhao Minghao, an international relations expert at Shanghai's Fudan University.

Even as Xi talked ⁠up ‌cooperation, he ‌stressed "utmost caution" by the United States in ⁠handling the issue of Taiwan, the ‌democratically governed island claimed by China, although Taipei rejects the contention.

"If handled ​poorly, the two countries ⁠could collide or even enter into conflict, ⁠pushing the entire China-U.S. relationship into an extremely dangerous situation," ⁠the Chinese leader ​said.

The White House's reaction, in comparison, was much subdued, saying Trump and Xi held a "good" meeting without making any reference to Taiwan.

"President Trump had a good meeting with President Xi of China. The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation," the White House said in a statement.

It made no mention of discussions on self-ruled Taiwan that Xi earlier said could cause a "conflict" between China and the United States should the issue be mishandled.