America’s most powerful CEOs don’t have much to show from their China trip so far

By Laurie Chen and Casey Hall

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 15 (Reuters) – With red-carpet treatment, selfies and culinary diplomacy, America’s richest and most powerful executives – from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Nvidia’s Jensen Huang – sought to rekindle business ties with China this week at a leadership summit in Beijing.

But as U.S. President Donald Trump flew out of Beijing on Friday afternoon, there was little clarity on what the summit delivered for the business delegation that was travelling with the president.

The presence of a group of some of the most powerful U.S. corporate leaders – representing companies like Apple, Meta, Boeing, Cargill and Goldman Sachs – underscores the importance of the Chinese market, even as political leaders navigate strained ties over trade, artificial intelligence and broader geopolitical tensions.

Face-to-face meetings with Chinese officials and policymakers are crucial for U.S. executives seeking to understand and manage regulatory and policy hurdles, secure deals and expand their footprint in the world’s second-largest economy.

Unlike the last U.S. presidential visit to Beijing early in Trump’s first term in 2017, which featured a larger CEO delegation and deals and memorandums of understanding valued at $250 billion, the aim of this visit was to generate political goodwill, analysts said.

“Beijing never approaches a leadership summit of this sort from a purely transactional perspective,” said Feng Chucheng, founder and partner at Hutong Research, a Beijing-based strategic consultancy. “I wouldn’t use the size of deals to measure the outcome of the summit.”

“Its top priority is to find a mutually agreed ‘floor’ for the bilateral relationship and secure a set of guardrails to avoid uncontrolled, unexpected escalation.”

It remains to be seen whether the positive vibes will help unleash regulatory approvals, market access and investment opportunities, as firms face broader operational challenges in China beyond commercial dealmaking.

Some executives plan to remain in China to continue meetings with officials after Trump’s departure and more deal announcements could be revealed in the coming days.

What does appear to have been already agreed upon – according to comments from Trump, though an official announcement is pending – is the purchase of 200 Boeing jets.

While that would count as a concrete deliverable, it is less than the 500 expected and below the 300 planes purchased during the 2017 visit.

A breakthrough also remained elusive on China granting permission for the sale of Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chip, the H200, which has been cleared by the U.S. for sale to some Chinese firms.

Asked repeatedly by Reuters about deals signed and progress on the H200 chip impasse, Huang replied only on Friday: “I love China, had a great time.”

The Nvidia CEO was not initially included on a White House list, but joined the trip later after Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to Beijing, sparking hope that the trip could yield results in its long-stalled efforts to sell the AI chip to China.

Huang strolled through scenic areas of Beijing with his entourage on Friday, stopping to watch buskers and visiting a street-level bar he had frequented on a previous trip to the capital.

“The summit has much more on positive atmospherics than deliverables, or at least on what China will officially acknowledge,” said Han Shen Lin, the Shanghai-based China country director at U.S. consultancy firm The Asia Group.

“Nonetheless, if Beijing doesn’t give Trump enough ‘wins’ to take home, the risk is that in his disappointment, Trump steps back and lets his more hawkish administration drive the bilateral relationship. This will undoubtedly take us on the road to escalation.”

(Reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Nicoco Chan; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)