Xi Jingping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the “Thucydides trap” that could put the US and China on a military collision course.

At the start of his summit meeting with Donald Trump in the White House, the Chinese president laid out terms for a mutual understanding that he said could avoid military conflict between the two competing superpowers.

“We should strengthen communication. China and the United States are different in national conditions, but through candid, in-depth and continued dialog, our two countries can understand each other better, seek common ground while shelving differences, and build up mutual trust,” said Xi, with Trump looking on.

“We should coexist in peace,” he said. “China and the United States, as two major countries, stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in confrontation. Our two militaries should maintain regular dialog and improve mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention.”

With such conditions in place, Xi said, “the Thucydides trap can be overcome”, refering to the phenomenon, defined by the Greek historian, of tensions that arise when an emerging power challenges the dominance of an established power.

Xi invoked the phrase in his meeting with Trump in Beijing in May, asking the US president how he planned to avoid it.

His proposals for lessening tensions – which also included the invitation of 100,000 young Americans to visit China on student exchanges – come amid a period of intense competition between the two powers over artificial intelligence and trade, with each side imposing tariffs on the other.

Trump had earlier welcomed Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to the White House, noting that he was the first Chinese leader to make a second state visit to the US. The previous visit occurred in 2015, when Barack Obama was US president.

Trump declared that he had forged “a truly great friendship” with Xi. “President Xi and I have made tremendous strides on the issues facing our two countries,” he said. “Our teams have been working to encourage a more balances trading relationship, including the new market access for American farmers and ranchers.”

He said the current visit would include discussion overs security, technology and AI – which he called “super intelligence”, a term he introduced in his speech to the United Nations general assembly on Tuesday.