Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly preparing to lead a large delegation of business executives on his forthcoming visit to Washington.
Xi is planning to bring the business delegation with him for his Sept. 24 summit with Trump, Reuters reported on Friday.
The last significant business contingent led by Xi to the U.S. was in 2015. That delegation included founders and executives from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Tencent Holdings Ltd (OTC:TCEHY), and other Chinese banks and state-owned firms. During that visit, China also signed a $38 billion agreement for 300 Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) aircraft.
US-China Business Ties Take Center Stage
Chinese companies have faced growing U.S. scrutiny, with Washington imposing steep tariffs on Chinese EVs, restricting drone, router and robot imports, forcing TikTok’s U.S. divestiture, and blacklisting major Chinese tech firms over national security concerns.
The inclusion of business leaders in the delegation could signal China’s willingness to support investment and commercial ties with the U.S. This move could also provide the White House with potential economic victories ahead of the midterm elections, a source told Reuters.
Trump has previously visited China with large groups of U.S. business leaders, including Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, among others, to seek greater access to Chinese markets. His May visit included 18 American executives.
Xi Talks May Open Door For US Farm Sales
The upcoming visit by Xi could also potentially lead to new announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers to expand American farm exports to China. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated, “When President Xi comes, we expect that we will probably have some more announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers related to agriculture to incentivize American sales into China.”
However, Greer also clarified that they are not looking for another sweeping trade pact but are aiming to manage the relationship.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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