WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump is bringing a delegation of business executives when he travels to China for a summit with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, White House officials confirmed on Monday.
Leaders representing aerospace, agriculture, finance, tech, and other industries will sit in on bilateral discussions related to tariffs, trade deals, technology export regulations, and other issues regarding the two nations’ business dealings.
Expectations are for some series of announcements during the trip of new purchase orders for airplanes and other goods made in America, improved access to technology and semiconductors, and financial agreements to facilitate transactions.
Tech and aerospace entrepreneur Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman are among the 16 executives included on the trip.
Cargill’s Brian Sikes will represent the agribusiness industry, while Citi’s Jane Fraser, Mastercard’s Michael Miebach, Visa’s Ryan McInerny, and Goldman Sach’s David Solomon will help lead efforts to negotiate finance and investment banking deals.
Cisco’s Chuck Robbins, Coherent’s Jim Anderson, GE Aerospace’s H. Lawrence Culp, Illumina’s Jacob Thaysen, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, Micron’s Sanjay Mehrotra, and Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon round out the leaders announced so far, who will demonstrate the administration’s emphasis on economic diplomacy.
Together, the group represents the major industries that make up the two countries’ economic relationship.
Trump’s May 13 to May 15 visit marks the first U.S. presidential appearance in China since he attended a state visit there in 2017 during his first term.
Other discussions anticipated between Trump and Xi include the Iran war, commercial transit of the Strait of Hormuz, and Taiwan.
”He’ll bring up Taiwan, I think, more than I will,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. “But I think that discussion will be a little bit about energy and about the very beautiful country of Iran.”
He will also talk with Chinese officials about the persecution of pastor Ezra Jin and media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai.
“[Lai] caused lots of turmoil for China. He tried to do the right thing,” Trump said. “He wasn’t successful, went to jail, and people would like him out. And I’d like to see him get out, too.”
Trump and Xi last met in person in South Korea in October 2025, where the two discussed trade and security, among other topics.
Xi is expected to visit the United States during Trump’s time in office, though the White House has yet to set a date for his arrival.