Trump heads to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping as Nvidia chief Jensen Huang joins trade and chip talks

US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on 13 May 2026 for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, marking his first visit to China in nearly a decade.

Accompanying Trump is Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, who was invited at the last minute and had not appeared on an initial White House list of travelling executives, according to Reuters.

Huang was observed boarding Air Force One during a refuelling stop in Alaska.

The US delegation is expected to arrive at around 7:30 p.m. local time, with the American president scheduled to remain in the country until Friday.

Trump is also due to meet Xi Jinping during a programme that includes a state banquet and a guided tour of the Temple of Heaven, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The visit is focused on trade, with Trump aiming to strike deals on agricultural goods and commercial aircraft, and to preserve a fragile trade truce between the world's two largest economies.

Ahead of his arrival, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that his first request to Xi would be to open China's market to American technology companies.

"I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic," Trump wrote, confirming that Huang was among the delegation.

Bessent's preparatory talks in South Korea

As Trump flew to Beijing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held preparatory economic and trade discussions with Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng at Incheon Airport in South Korea on 13 May 2026, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters.

The preparatory session covers not only trade and investment but also the ongoing Iran war, nuclear weapons concerns, and US arms sales to Taiwan.

Both governments are expected to reaffirm a trade truce struck last October, under which Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods while Beijing stepped back from restricting global supplies of rare earth materials.

Washington has also indicated it wants to sell Boeing commercial aircraft, American agricultural products, and energy to China, in an effort to narrow a bilateral trade deficit that has long irritated Trump.

Beijing's priorities in the talks centre on securing relief from US restrictions on exports of advanced chipmaking equipment and semiconductors, including Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips, which US officials say have faced regulatory obstacles to sale in China.

Trump enters with a weakened hand

Despite the summit's prominence, Trump arrives in Beijing with a constrained negotiating position. US courts have limited his authority to levy tariffs on Chinese and other international goods unilaterally.

Trump has vowed to reconstitute those tariff measures through remaining legal channels, but the constraints represent a notable shift from the leverage he wielded during last year's trade war.

The Iran war has stoked inflationary pressures domestically and elevated the risk that the Republican Party could lose one or both legislative chambers in November's midterm elections.

By contrast, although China's economy has faced headwinds, Xi does not face equivalent economic or political pressures heading into the summit.

Liu Qian, founder and chief executive of Wusawa Advisory, a Beijing-based geopolitical advisory firm, told Reuters that maintaining the current trade situation rather than allowing further escalation was already a positive outcome given last year's tensions.

"The Trump administration needs this meeting more than China does, as it needs to show to American voters that deals are signed, money is made... so mid-term elections can be secured," Liu said.

Mixed public reaction in Beijing

Public reaction in Beijing was measured. Han Huiming, a 23-year-old insurance professional, told Reuters he believed Trump's visit was motivated by a desire to reverse US economic difficulties.

"The US economy has been going downhill... it's been declining. So I think he's coming here because he wants things to move in a better direction," Han told Reuters outside a Beijing metro station on 13 May 2026.

Lou Huilian, a 44-year-old oil trade worker, expressed scepticism about Trump's intentions while retaining hope for constructive outcomes.

"I don't know if he's genuinely sincere about this. But speaking as a Chinese person, and as someone working in trade, I just hope some good policies can come out of this," Lou said.