US President Barack Obama welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to the White House on Friday with full state honors, amid tensions between the superpowers over cyber-attacks and Beijing's maritime claims.

The leaders of the world's two biggest economies met amid great pomp, with a military honor guard and a fife and drum corps on the White House lawn to welcome Xi.

The pair were to then head into the executive mansion for their talks. A joint press conference was expected at about 12:00 pm (1600 GMT).