Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) is welcomed by US President Barack Obama (L) at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC, the United States, Sept 25, 2015. Xi arrived in Washington, the second stop of his first state visit to the United States, on Thursday after a busy two-and-a-half-day stay in West Coast hub Seattle. [Photo/Xinhua]

US President Barack Obama greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan on arrival for an elaborate ceremony on the South Lawn, including a military honor guard.

This reciprocated President Obama's state visit to China in November 2014, making it the tenth state affair of the Obama Administration, the White House said.

Obama said "Nihao" in Chinese when opening his welcome speech.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that his ongoing state visit to the United States is for peace and cooperation.

"I come to the United States this time to promote peace and advance cooperation," Xi said in a speech at the welcome ceremony.

"We must uphold the right direction of building a new model of major-country relations, make sure our relationship is defined by peace, respect and cooperation, and see through it that it keeps moving forward on the sound track of steady growth," he said.