Trump arrives in Beijing to high-level welcome led by Chinese vice president

US President Donald Trump landed at Beijing Capital International Airport on the evening of 13 May 2026, received by a ceremonial welcome that surpassed the diplomatic protocol of his first state visit to China in November 2017.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, dispatched by President Xi Jinping to lead the welcome delegation, greeted Trump at the foot of the steps of Air Force One.

Han is a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) highest decision-making body, and currently holds full national-level rank.

Han and Trump walked a red carpet together as approximately 300 Chinese children, dressed in matching blue and white uniforms, lined the tarmac and waved American and Chinese flags. The children chanted in Mandarin, "Welcome, welcome, enthusiastically welcome."

The highway route from the airport was lined with the national flags of both countries. Skyscrapers across Beijing were illuminated with Chinese characters meaning "Beijing Welcome."

President Xi Jinping is scheduled to formally receive Trump on the morning of Thursday, 14 May 2026, local time.

Also present at the airport were US Ambassador to China David Perdue, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng, and China's executive vice minister of foreign affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, according to the White House.

Elevated reception protocol

The welcome extended to Trump this visit surpasses the protocol of his 2017 trip. At the time, Yang Jiechi — then China's most senior diplomat as a Politburo member and state councillor — greeted him at the airport.

Yang held the rank of deputy national-level leader, a seniority below that of Han Zheng.

Hong Kong-based outlet HK01, drawing on public records, noted that the protocol extended this visit is comparable to that accorded to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his 2025 visit to China.

On that occasion, PSC member and Central Secretariat First Secretary Cai Qi personally led the welcome. Both Han and Cai hold full national-level rank.

The reception also exceeds that afforded to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his recent China visits. When Putin arrived in Tianjin in August 2025, he was received by Tianjin party secretary Chen Miner.

During Putin's May 2024 Beijing visit, State Councillor Shen Yiqin led the welcome. Both Chen and Shen hold deputy national-level rank.

HK01 attributed the elevated protocol to two factors. The first is China's longstanding tradition of diplomatic hospitality, rooted in Premier Zhou Enlai's conduct of foreign affairs in the early years of the People's Republic of China.

The second factor, the outlet noted, is Beijing's strategic interest in according Trump the ceremonial respect he values in order to secure substantive outcomes from the visit.

HK01 also noted that the 2025 global trade dispute saw China become the only country to mount a direct, reciprocal counter-response to US tariffs, ultimately securing a one-year trade truce between the two sides.

Beijing, having demonstrated resilience under US economic pressure, is now focused on stabilising relations with Washington to support domestic development goals under China's 15th Five-Year Plan, HK01 reported.

Large US delegation

Trump was accompanied by a delegation spanning senior cabinet members, close family, and prominent business figures.

His national security and economic team aboard Air Force One included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived in Beijing separately, having held preliminary trade discussions with his Chinese counterpart in Seoul, South Korea, ahead of the leader-level meetings.

More than a dozen senior business executives joined the trip, including Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg, and Meta's Dina Powell McCormick, who served in Trump's first administration.

Executives from BlackRock, Blackstone, Cargill, Citi, Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, Illumina, Mastercard, Micron, Qualcomm, and Visa were also part of the delegation.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang was observed boarding Air Force One when the aircraft refuelled in Alaska. Musk subsequently posted on X that he and Huang were the only business executives travelling on the presidential aircraft.

Hollywood director Brett Ratner, who most recently directed a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, also travelled with the president. First Lady Melania Trump did not accompany the president on this trip, though she did so during the 2017 visit.

Fox News presenter Sean Hannity was also observed aboard Air Force One.

Trump's son Eric Trump and daughter-in-law Lara Trump were also among the delegation.

Lara Trump, who served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) during the 2024 campaign and currently presents a programme on Fox News, has assumed a more prominent public role in the president's second term.

The president's daughter Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser during his first term, has maintained a lower profile during his second term and did not travel with the delegation.

Trade agenda

Trump and Xi are widely expected to announce a series of new trade agreements during the visit.

The two leaders are also reported to be considering the establishment of a US-China board of trade and a US-China board of investment, though no formal announcements have been made ahead of the Thursday meeting.