Donald Trump landed at Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday night, beginning the first state visit by a sitting U.S. president to China in nine years. Around 300 young people in blue-and-white uniforms waved American and Chinese flags as Air Force One taxied to a halt. Vice President Han Zheng, who is widely seen as Xi Jinping's preferred envoy, greeted Trump alongside China's ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng, and U.S. ambassador to China David Perdue.
The summit's agenda covers major issues between the two countries: tariffs, rare earths, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and the war between the United States and Iran. The Iran conflict is the reason the visit was moved to May from April. Washington wants Beijing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil flows. China buys more than 80 percent of Iran's shipped crude exports.
China controls roughly 90 percent of the world's rare-earth refining capacity, which is important for everything from electric vehicles to fighter jets. U.S. and Chinese negotiators are discussing a "Board of Trade" framework that would allow about 30 billion dollars of goods on each side to receive tariff cuts.
Trump brought important American business leaders, including Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Apple's Tim Cook, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are also in the delegation. The substantive meetings begin Thursday with a bilateral meeting with Xi, followed by a visit to the Temple of Heaven and a state banquet.