Donald Trump returns in China on May 15 and 16after several months behind the initial schedule. 9 years after his visit in November 2017, the American president will have his first meeting in Beijing with Xi Jinping during his second term. The postponements in recent weeks were notably due to tensions in the Middle East and American military operations in January in Venezuela.
While final preparations are underway, last-minute invitations have been sent to a few U.S. business leaders to join the president’s delegation. With him, a state dinner is planned with Xi Jinpingtwo sources told Reuters this Friday, May 8. According to these same contacts, the news agency reported that the last-minute invitation was linked to a disagreement within the White House over the size of the delegation and the CEOs to invite.
A smaller delegation than in 2017
We do not yet know the exact number of bosses who will board Air Force One, heading to Beijing. But according to five sources interviewed by Reuters, theThe group will be even smaller than it was in 2017where Donald Trump chose 29 representatives. For comparison, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s last delegation included 60 business leaders and cultural figures in January. A month later, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took 29 big names from industry.
The White House list would still include several already known names. The first, and certainly the most important for this state visit, is that of patron the Boeing. The American aircraft manufacturer must meet Xi Jinping to sign a massive order for 500 737 MAX type planes, and around ten large jets. China has never ordered so many planes from the Americans… since 2017.
Limited expectations
Additionally, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang could be on the list. In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, he said he would participate in the trip “If he was invited”. Its importance is less since the company’s efforts to sell chips in China were blocked. At the beginning of May, the boss of Nvidia threw a wrench by declaring that market shares in China were close to 0%, while in December 2025, Donald Trump authorized the sale of the powerful H200 to Beijing, in exchange for an export tax of 25%. returned to the American Treasury.
Limited trade expectations between Washington and Beijing largely explain why Donald Trump’s delegation to China will be restricted. Alongside the boss of Boeing and the possible presence of the boss of Nvidia, we should see Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple (until September 1), the CEO of Qualcomm (of which China is its main market), of Citigroup, or even of Semafor, according to the sources interviewed by Reuters.
In 2017, among the 29 American business leaders, around ten were from the gas and energy sector.
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