China confirmed on Monday that US President Donald Trump will pay a state visit from 13 to 15 May at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. It will be the first trip by a US president to the country in nearly a decade —since Trump's own November 2017 visit— and will unfold against the backdrop of the US war against Iran, the fragile trade truce between the two powers, and the dispute over Taiwan's sovereignty.