U.S. President Donald Trump has landed in Beijing for a highly anticipated two-day presidential summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as the world’s two largest economies seek to navigate growing tensions over trade, technology and global security.
Trump arrived in the Chinese capital on Wednesday and was greeted on the tarmac by Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng, alongside a brass band and flag wavers chanting “welcome” as he descended the steps of Air Force One.
The U.S. president is being accompanied on the trip by several prominent American business leaders, including Elon Musk of Tesla and Jensen Huang of Nvidia, highlighting the growing importance of technology and artificial intelligence in relations between Washington and Beijing.
Ahead of his arrival, Trump said he would ask China to “open up” to American industry and later wrote in a post on Truth Social that he expected “great things” to emerge from the summit.
The visit, originally scheduled for March, was postponed because of the Iran war. Trump’s return to China marks his first visit to the country since 2017 and comes at a time when Beijing is increasingly presenting itself as a stable global power amid geopolitical uncertainty.
On Thursday, Trump is expected to participate in an official welcome ceremony before holding bilateral talks with Xi. The American president will also tour the historic Temple of Heaven and later attend a state banquet hosted by the Chinese government.
He is scheduled to depart China on Friday after attending tea and a working lunch with Xi.
The high-stakes discussions are expected to focus on tariffs, rare earth minerals, artificial intelligence, the Iran war and the future of Taiwan, all of which continue to shape the increasingly competitive relationship between the two countries.
