In Pekino, Donald Trump is expected to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Chi Jinping.
According to his remarks, the US president will call for “opening up” China’s economy more to US companies. “I will ask President Xi, an unparalleled leader, to open up China so that brilliant people can work their magic and raise the People’s Republic to an even higher level,” he said. Trump, apparently referring to the US business chiefs accompanying him on his trip.
On February 20, a White House official confirmed that US President Donald Trump would travel to Beijing next month to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. At the top of the agenda was the US-China trade war.
A week later, Trump approved joint strikes with Israel against Iran, starting a new war in the Middle East. The summit was postponed. Now China’s agenda has changed, the Guardian notes.
What Beijing wants
Peking is keen to ensure that the high tariffs announced by Trump last year – which reached as high as 145% before the two sides agreed to a ‘ceasefire’ in October – do not return.
But now the most pressing concern is finding a way to reopen the Hormuz Strait, through which half of China’s crude oil passes. Although China is more protected from energy shocks than other Asian countries because of its diversified energy mix and large reserves, the risk of a global recession – which could come as a result of war in Iran as the International Monetary Fund has warned – is a greater threat to China’s economy. About a fifth of China’s GDP comes from exports. If the rest of the world can no longer spend money to buy goods, China will suffer.
According to reports broadcast last month, China pushed Iran to the negotiating table with the US in an earlier round of ceasefire talks. Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. According to Beijing, Wang called for a “comprehensive cessation of hostilities” in the Middle East and said China “supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.”
The US is making it increasingly clear that it wants China’s help in reaching an agreement with Iran. US Treasury SecretaryScott Bessent has said the US administration wants to see Beijing “increase” pressure on Iran to reopen the sea lane.
This in itself could affect the dynamics of the meeting between the two leaders.
Trade and Taiwan
Influence on Iran could be a useful leverage for Beijing on the other two issues on the meeting agenda: trade and Taiwan.
For most of 2025, the US and China looked to be on the brink of a new trade war that could shake the foundations of the global economy, the BBC notes in an analysis.
Trump has repeatedly raised and lowered tariffs on America’s biggest trading partner.
China responded by cutting exports of rare earths to the US and markets for US agricultural products, hurting farmers in critical states that voted for Trump.
Tensions dropped significantly after Trump and Xi met in South Korea in October. A Supreme Court ruling in February limiting the president’s unilateral authority on tariffs also helped calm Trump’s volatile trade sentiments, the British broadcaster notes.
Trump and Xi will still have plenty to say at the Beijing summit, however. The US leader will push for increased Chinese purchases of US agricultural products. China is certain to push the US to drop a recently announced trade investigation into unfair business practices that could allow Trump to again impose higher tariffs on Chinese products.
The Trump administration has also invited the CEOs of Nvidia, Apple, Exxon, Boeing and other major companies to join him on the trip, according to Reuters.
Although China is no longer as dependent on the U.S. for trade as it was during Trump’s first presidential term, Xi will want this meeting to go well, as China needs stability in the global economy. It is now the top trading partner of more than 120 countries, but Xi knows he cannot appear so confident when meeting with Trump.
As for Taiwan, the Trump administration is sending mixed messages.
Last December, the US announced an $11 billion arms deal with Taiwan, angering the Chinese government. Trump, however, downplayed the US’s willingness to defend Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory. “He considers it part of China,” Trump said of Xi, “and it’s up to him what he does.”
He has also said Taiwan has not adequately compensated the US for its security guarantees, claiming it “doesn’t give us anything.” Last year, it imposed a 15 percent tariff on Taiwan and accused it of stealing semiconductor manufacturing from the U.S.
Last week, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio said Taiwan would be a topic of discussion during the visit, though the goal is to ensure the issue does not become a source of renewed tension between the two superpowers. “We don’t need destabilising events regarding Taiwan or anywhere in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said. “And I think that’s in the interests of both the United States and the Chinese.”
For its part, China has signaled that Taiwan is a priority in these talks.Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed hope last week in a phone call with Rubio that the U.S. would make the “right choices.”
Beijing is stepping up the economic pressure by sending warplanes and warships around Taiwan almost daily.
Visit schedule
Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing tonight (Wednesday), Anna Kelly, a deputy U.S. government spokeswoman, said Monday. A welcoming ceremony and bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping will take place tomorrow, Thursday morning, followed by Trump’s visit to the Temple of Heaven in the afternoon. A formal dinner will be held in the evening. The two presidents will then have their tea together. On Friday they will have a working lunch and then Donald Trump will depart for Washington, D.C.
.
