WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe

Biden welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the

White House on Wednesday to showcase a strong and growing

partnership focused on joint defense cooperation to deter an

aggressive China.

The summit kicked off with an official arrival ceremony on

the White House South Lawn, followed by a closed-door meeting, a

joint news conference planned for the Rose Garden, a state

dinner and a performance by musician Paul Simon.

A red-coated fife-and-drum corps played "Yankee Doodle" and

marched before the two leaders during the elaborate arrival

ceremony featuring honor guards from each U.S. military branch.

Biden lauded the Japanese leader's quick "courageous"

opposition to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and for

improving relations with South Korea. He noted that he and

Kishida had strolled across the lawn on Tuesday night to admire

three Japanese cherry trees.

"Ours is truly a global partnership. For that, Mr. Prime

Minister Kishida, I thank you," Biden said. "Now our two

countries are building a stronger defense partnership and a

strong Indo-Pacific than ever before."

Kishida, speaking after Biden, said the cherry trees

that line the Tidal Basin near the White House are a "symbol of

the friendship between Japan and the United States."

"As a global partner, Japan will join hands with our

American friends and together we will lead the way in tackling

the challenges of the Indo-Pacific and the world," he said.

Kishida will address the U.S. Congress on Thursday and

join Biden and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for a

meeting expected to focus on Beijing's South China Sea

incursions.

The U.S. and Japan have hammered out about 70 agreements on

defense cooperation, including moves to upgrade the U.S.

military command structure in Japan to make it better able to

work with Japanese forces in a crisis.

Biden and Kishida are also expected to announce steps to

allow more joint development of military and defense equipment.

The two leaders will announce plans for a joint lunar space

mission and projects to work together on artificial intelligence

research, U.S. officials said.

Japan will now be a "full global partner" with the United

States, with influence far beyond its region and into Europe and

the Middle East a senior Biden administration official told

reporters on Tuesday, summing up the deals.

"I want to stress that Japan and the U.S. are global

partners in maintaining and strengthening the rules-based, free

and open international order," Kishida told Nikkei. "We will

also bolster our defense and national security cooperation."

China is attempting to isolate Japan and the Philippines. By

meeting the leaders of those two nations this week in

Washington, Biden is aiming to "flip the script and isolate

China," the U.S. official said.

Fitch cut its outlook on China's sovereign credit rating to

negative on Wednesday, citing risks to public finances as the

economy faces increasing uncertainty in its shift to new growth

models.

On Thursday, Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with

Marcos, whom he welcomed in Washington just last year, before

the pair join Kishida for a trilateral summit.

The visit may give a political boost to Kishida, whose

popularity has waned at home. He is being greeted with great

fanfare, with Japanese flags on display throughout Washington.

Besides the state dinner, Biden and his wife Jill took

Kishida and his wife Yuko to a private dinner at a local

restaurant on Tuesday night.

On Thursday, Kishida will become only the second Japanese

leader to address a joint meeting of Congress after his

assassinated predecessor, Shinzo Abe, gave a speech in 2015.

Overshadowing the visit is a controversy over the planned

$15 billion acquisition of American steel maker U.S. Steel

by Japan's Nippon Steel ( NISTF ), a deal some say is "on life

support" after criticism by Biden and former President Donald

Trump, his rival in November's U.S. election.

Also looming are Japanese concerns that if Trump wins a

second term he might seek a deal with China that could

destabilize the region.