Trump plans to bring a smaller CEO delegation to Beijing summit, sources say

By Laurie Chen and Michael Martina

BEIJING/WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – The White House has invited a scaled-back CEO delegation to accompany President Donald Trump to Beijing next week, five sources briefed on preparations said, reflecting divisions in the administration on economic policy toward China and limited expectations for the summit.

Unlike Trump’s 2017 China visit when he was accompanied by 29 high-profile executives, the White House and Treasury considered inviting representatives of around a dozen U.S. companies, according to three of the five sources. 

Reuters was not able to confirm the full list ​of companies invited. Executives on the invitation list for the May 14-15 trip include CEOs from Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm, Citigroup and Boeing, Semafor reported.

The CEOs would join a state dinner with Trump hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, two of the sources said.

The offers were sent out unusually last-minute, partly due to disagreement within the administration over the size of the CEO delegation and who to invite, they said. 

This also marks a much smaller delegation than other Western leaders have brought to Beijing recently. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought a delegation of 60 business and cultural executives for his January visit, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz brought 29 industry titans to China one month later.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had been reluctant to bring a high-powered CEO delegation to Beijing when the summit was still planned for March to keep the focus on “managed trade,” Reuters previously reported.

“A small CEO delegation that aligns with the actual concessions and negotiating points would make sense… Greer seems very conscious of not setting expectations too high,” said Reva Goujon, a geopolitical strategist at consultancy firm Rhodium Group.

LIMITED EXPECTATIONS

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, whose efforts to sell AI chips to China have been stymied, told CNBC on Tuesday he would join Trump’s China visit, “if invited.”

Other companies that were under consideration include major U.S. beef and soybean producers, three sources said. 

All of those who spoke to Reuters asked not to be named because planning for the state visit remains ongoing. 

Trump’s last visit to Beijing in 2017 was heavy on pomp and business deals. He was given a rare private tour of the Forbidden City by Xi and touted deals worth over $250 billion, including a $37 billion sale of 300 Boeing aircraft and energy projects totalling $69 billion.

Many of these deals were non-binding memoranda of understanding or multi-year purchase frameworks rather than immediate contracts.

The U.S. delegation then included 10 companies involved in gas or energy. One of the few chip companies to join was chip supplier Qualcomm, which counts China as its largest market.

This year’s summit is key to unlocking China’s first major Boeing order since 2017, CEO Kelly Ortberg said last month. Boeing and China have been in prolonged talks for a deal that industry sources say could include 500 737 MAX jets, plus dozens of widebody jets. 

Another focus for the summit is the prospect for an extension of October’s trade truce, where both sides paused retaliatory export controls. Beijing is seeking at least a one-year extension while Washington is asking for six months, two of the sources said.

China also wants the Trump administration to commit to not taking future retaliatory trade action such as technology export controls and to roll back existing controls on chipmaking equipment and advanced memory chips, people briefed on preparations for the talks said.

(Reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing and Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by Kevin Krolicki, Miyoung Kim and Stephen Coates)