Trump plans to take a smaller CEO delegation to Beijing summit, say sources
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The White House and Treasury have considered inviting representatives of around a dozen US companies, according to three of the five sources.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING/WASHINGTON – The White House has invited a scaled-back delegation of chief executives to accompany US President Donald Trump to Beijing next week, five sources briefed on preparations said, reflecting divisions in the administration on economic policy towards China and limited expectations for the summit.
Unlike the 2017 China visit with 29 high-profile executives, the White House and Treasury considered inviting representatives of about a dozen US firms, said the sources.
The invitation list for the May 14 to 15 trip includes CEOs from Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm, Citigroup and Boeing, Semafor reported.
The CEOs would join Mr Trump at a state dinner hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, two of the sources said.
The offers were sent out unusually last-minute, partly due to disagreement within the administration over the size of the CEO delegation and who to invite, they said.
This is a much smaller delegation than other Western leaders have taken to Beijing recently. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took 60 business and cultural executives for his January visit. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took 29 industry titans to China one month later.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was reportedly reluctant to take a CEO delegation to Beijing when the summit was planned, to keep the focus on “managed trade”.
Limited expectations
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose efforts to sell artificial intelligence chips to China have been stymied, told CNBC on May 5 he would join the China visit “if invited”.
Other firms under consideration include major US beef and soya bean producers, the sources said.
Mr Trump’s last visit to Beijing in 2017 was heavy on pomp and business deals. He was given a rare private tour of the Forbidden City by Mr Xi and touted deals worth more than US$250 billion (S$317 billion), including a US$37 billion sale of 300 Boeing aircraft and energy projects totalling US$69 billion.
Many of these deals were non-binding memoranda of understanding or multi-year purchase frameworks rather than immediate contracts.
The US delegation then included 10 companies involved in gas or energy. One of the few chip companies to join was chip supplier Qualcomm, which counts China as its largest market.
The 2026 summit is key to unlocking China’s first major Boeing order since 2017, CEO Kelly Ortberg said in April. Boeing and China have been in prolonged talks for a deal that industry sources say could include 500 737 MAX jets, plus dozens of widebody jets.
Another focus for the summit is the prospect of an extension of October’s trade truce, where both sides paused retaliatory export controls. Beijing is seeking at least a one-year extension and Washington is asking for six months, the sources said.
China also wants the US to commit to not taking future retaliatory trade action, such as technology export controls, and to roll back existing controls on chipmaking equipment and advanced memory chips, people briefed on preparations for the talks said. REUTERS
