China cozies up as Trump touts delegation of richest business heavyweights at Xi summit
As details emerge from President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a key reality is coming into focus: China still wants U.S. business and Trump may have the...
By Fox News · Fox News
As details emerge from President Donald Trump ’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a key reality is coming into focus: China still wants U.S. business and Trump may have the upper hand. Trump's high-profile business delegation highlights the economic balancing act the two nations are seeking to strike. Xi wants investment and continued access to American corporate power, while Trump is positioning himself to use trade pressure and market access as leverage with Beijing. The heavyweight lineup alongside Trump for the trip includes tech executives like Apple’s Tim Cook , Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Micron’s Sanjay Mehrotra and Meta's Dina Powell McCormick. The overlap between politics and business was clear even before the meetings began. Huang was reportedly added to Trump’s trip at the last minute. He even secured a seat on Air Force One — a sign of Nvidia’s central role in the global chip race and broader U.S.-China tech tensions. TRUMP GETS RED-CARPET WELCOME IN CHINA, BUT PAST BEIJING TRIP SHOWS PAGEANTRY ONLY GOES SO FAR Also on the trip were Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon. Many joining the president rank among the world’s wealthiest business leaders. Musk, for example, is the richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Schwarzman and Huang have amassed fortunes in the tens of billions. Together, the group represents trillions in corporate power with deep business ties to China despite years of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Their companies still rely heavily on Chinese consumers, manufacturing and supply chains, even as Washington and Beijing clash over tariffs, technology and national security. That influence is already showing up in the talks. Both sides discussed expanding access for U.S. companies into Chinese markets, a top priority for executives on the trip. Xi said his oppo…