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Meredith Chen

President Donald Trump’s claim that the new White House ballroom will top China’s Great Hall of the People has thrust the Beijing landmark back into the spotlight just as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares for his US visit later this month.
Speaking at a Republican midterm convention in Dallas last week, Trump described the Great Hall of the People – China’s most prestigious venue for legislative and ceremonial events – as “a serious hall”.
“This is a very large hall, but we’re going to top it. You know, we’re going to top it,” Trump said.
Trump stood inside the central Beijing landmark just months earlier.
During his state visit to China in May, the US delegation attended a welcoming ceremony, bilateral meeting and state banquet in the Great Hall of the People.
After wrapping up his visit, Trump posted to social media a photo of himself walking alongside Xi in front of the building, declaring: “China has a ballroom, and so should the USA!”
He said the new White House ballroom, part of an ongoing revamp of the East Wing announced last year, would be “the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the USA” and was scheduled to open in September 2028.
The Great Hall of the People, located on the western side of Tiananmen Square, was not built only to host grand banquets.

It has served as a major venue for China’s legislative, state and diplomatic activities since its completion, and hosts the annual “two sessions”, the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the country’s top political advisory body.
In 1972, then US president Richard Nixon visited the Great Hall during his historic visit to China, where he held talks with premier Zhou Enlai as Beijing and Washington moved towards normalising relations.
Opened in 1959, it was one of 10 major construction projects in Beijing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Construction began in October 1958 and was completed just over 10 months later.
The main entrance opens onto Tiananmen Square, with the national emblem of the People’s Republic mounted above it.
Twelve pale-grey marble columns, each 25 metres (82 feet) tall, frame the entrance, which is approached via broad granite steps.

The building is monumental. It covers about 170,000 square metres (1.8 million square feet), with a 10,000-seat auditorium at its centre, a banquet hall capable of accommodating 5,000 people to the north and offices for the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislative body, to the south.
More than 300 meeting rooms, lounges and offices are spread across the complex, including rooms named after China’s provinces and regions, including Hong Kong and Macau, which are decorated to reflect their local culture.
The grand auditorium has a domed ceiling centred on a ruby-red five-pointed star, with 70 radiating beams and 40 sunflower-shaped motifs. Hundreds of smaller lights are designed to evoke a starry sky against pale blue wall panels.
The White House State Ballroom, by comparison, will have about 8,360 square metres of space and seating for 650 people, an increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House.
In 2025, Trump’s administration demolished the White House’s East Wing and began work on the ballroom without seeking congressional approval, prompting controversy over historic preservation and funding challenges.


The administration has said the project is intended to address a long-standing shortage of space for large official functions.
Trump has frequently complained about the White House’s limited capacity for formal dinners, which forces the US to use “unsightly tents” on the South Lawn.
For visiting foreign leaders, China’s Great Hall of the People is also part of the choreography of diplomacy. Its grand reception halls serve as elaborate backdrops for welcoming ceremonies, talks and state banquets, putting the country’s architectural traditions and political symbolism on display at the same time.
The East Hall, one of the building’s main reception spaces for foreign leaders and high-level meetings, spans more than 1,120 square metres.
During the May state visit, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was filmed taking in the East Hall’s ornate ceiling, with the footage later circulating widely on Chinese social media.
At one point, he pointed towards the ceiling and gave a thumbs-up, before drawing US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attention to the details, the footage shows.


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US president says the under-construction ballroom will outdo its Beijing counterpart, despite being a fraction of the size


US president says the under-construction ballroom will outdo its Beijing counterpart, despite being a fraction of the size.


United States

Donald Trump

Marco Rubio

Xi Jinping

Can Trump’s White House ballroom top China’s vast Great Hall of the People?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US president says the under-construction ballroom will outdo its Beijing counterpart, despite being a fraction of the size

US president says the under-construction ballroom will outdo its Beijing counterpart, despite being a fraction of the size