MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump lands in Beijing for first summit with Xi in China since 2017

US President Donald Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday at 19:52 local time (11:52 GMT) to begin a three-day state visit to the Asian giant, his second trip to the country since the one made in 2017 during his first term and the first by a US president to the Chinese capital in nearly nine years. The summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will run Thursday and Friday and will tackle the fragile trade truce sealed in Busan last October, the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, the technological rivalry between the world's two largest economies, and the dispute over Taiwan.

Trump is traveling with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a top-tier business delegation that includes Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Apple's Tim Cook, and Boeing chief Kelly Ortberg. The composition reflects the economic weight of the summit, at which Washington seeks a Chinese commitment to purchase more than 500 Boeing aircraft, expanded cooperation on rare earths, and an agreement on the fentanyl trade. Before boarding Air Force One, the president wrote on his Truth Social platform that he would ask Xi to “open” China to US business so that these executives could “work their magic” and lift the Asian country “to an even higher level.”

The conflict with Iran weighs on the agenda. Trump told reporters before departure that he would have “a long conversation” with Xi on the issue, although moments later he played down the point, stating that “I don't think we need help with Iran” and that the Chinese leader had been “relatively good” on the matter. The war, launched on 28 February, forced the postponement of the summit originally scheduled for March and continues to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, a critical route for Beijing's energy supply. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday to “intensify” mediation between Washington and Tehran and to address the reopening of the strait.

In parallel, trade envoys Scott Bessent and He Lifeng began a new technical round in Seoul on Wednesday aimed at consolidating the tariff truce and unblocking the dispute over Chinese export controls on rare earths. On Taiwan, Trump confirmed he would discuss US weapons sales to the island with Xi and said: “I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don't want that to happen,” in reference to a military escalation. The summit will unfold against a complex domestic backdrop for both leaders: Trump faces rising inflation linked to the Iran conflict and slipping approval ratings, while Xi contends with weak domestic consumption and a prolonged debt crisis in the real estate sector.