Saadet Gokce
13 May 2026•Update: 13 May 2026
China is set to host US President Donald Trump for the first visit by a sitting American president in nearly nine years, with the Middle East conflict, Taiwan, trade, tariffs and high tech high on the agenda.
Trump was scheduled to arrive at Beijing Capital Airport on Wednesday before heading to his hotel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are among the officials accompanying him.
Notably, Rubio, who also serves as acting national security advisor, was sanctioned by China in 2020 in retaliation for US sanctions regarding Hong Kong, but Beijing has clarified that the sanctions were related to his time as a US senator.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will join Trump in Beijing after holding trade talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in South Korea on Wednesday.
According to details of the summit involving Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump is scheduled to arrive at the Great Hall of the People for the summit on Thursday around 10 am local time (0200GMT).
Trump earlier said he would bring up arms sales to Taiwan as well as the case of imprisoned Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai during the meeting, while Beijing has said the two leaders would discuss "major issues concerning China-US relations, world peace and development.”
The two leaders will meet at least six times during Trump’s engagements in Beijing.
Who’s who on the list
According to a list shared by a US official, several CEOs will accompany Trump for talks with the leader of world’s second largest economy.
Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, = Boeing CEO and president Kelly Ortberg, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach are a few of them.
Xi will host a state banquet for Trump and his team on Thursday.
While it remains to be seen whether any concrete deals will materialize from the meetings, Xi will host Trump for a bilateral tea gathering before the two sides sit for a working lunch Friday.
Soon after, the US president will fly home aboard Air Force One in the afternoon.
1st trip by US president in 9 years
Trump’s Beijing summit with Xi will mark the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nine years.
It was Trump in 2017 who visited China, but his successor Joe Biden failed to follow the tradition set by his predecessors, making him one of only two US presidents who did not visit China during their terms.
Xi and Trump met in October last year on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea.
Chinese state media looks back on Xi-Trump meetings
Soon after Beijing on Monday confirmed dates for Trump’s state visit, Chinese state media began highlighting past meetings between the leaders of the world’s top two economies, whose bilateral trade totaled an estimated $414.7 billion in 2025.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency highlighted positive remarks by Xi regarding the China-US relationship while noting contentious issues between the two countries, including Taiwan.
