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News Desk, The Cradle.
Ahead of high-stakes talks with President Xi.
Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and top executives from Nvidia, Qualcomm, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Visa, Boeing, and Meta joined the US president.
US President Donald Trump landed in Beijing on 13 May for a crucial meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to address trade, technology, Taiwan, the war against Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz.
Met with red-carpet treatment in the Chinese capital, Trump was joined by a retinue of more than a dozen billionaires whose companies span major sectors of the US and global economies.
A total of 16 high-profile business leaders accompanied the US president, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as CEOs from Nvidia, Qualcomm, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Mastercard, Visa, Boeing, and Meta Platforms President and Vice Chair Dina Powell McCormick.
Trump is scheduled to meet Xi after his first night in Beijing, with the visit centered on what both sides agree to be a crucial moment for the world’s two largest economies.
The US-Israeli war on Iran and the resulting global energy crisis are expected to weigh heavily on the talks.
The US President is expected to urge his Chinese counterpart to pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and move toward a peace deal, as China depends heavily on crude oil shipments through the waterway.
The talks are also expected to cover Taiwan, artificial intelligence, advanced chip exports, trade, and fentanyl, with both sides seeking concessions on long-running disputes that have strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
Ahead of the Trump–Xi meeting, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held “closed-door” talks in Seoul that Beijing described as “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” on trade issues.
According to Xinhua, the two sides discussed issues of mutual concern and ways to expand practical cooperation, while officials worked to align priorities before the high-stakes talks in Beijing.
The Seoul meeting followed the sixth round of US–China economic and trade consultations held in Paris in March.
Bessent, who arrived in South Korea after meetings with senior officials in Japan, is expected to travel to Beijing to join Trump’s visit.
The Treasury secretary held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on the recent state of US–China relations ahead of his departure to Beijing, as well as supply chains, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, currency volatility, and progress on a US–Japan investment agreement.
The meeting also comes as Washington imposes new sanctions on a China–Iran oil network ahead of Trump’s Beijing visit, tightening efforts to choke off Tehran’s oil revenue while the US–Israeli war on the Islamic Republic and the Hormuz crisis strain global energy markets.
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