WASHINGTON, Sept 23: Chinese President Xi Jinping is not expected to bring a delegation of corporate executives to his upcoming US summit with President Donald Trump, contrasting with the large group of American business leaders expected to attend the talks and state dinner.
A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Xi was unlikely to bring chief executives as part of a business delegation. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported the same possibility.
Trump is preparing to host Xi in Washington for talks on Thursday, followed by a state dinner expected to draw several leading figures from the US technology and financial sectors. Trump has said he expects the meeting to produce multiple business agreements.
Executives expected at the dinner include Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell.
Financial sector leaders expected to attend include Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach.
Senior members of Trump’s economic team are also expected to participate, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The differing composition of the two sides comes as Washington and Beijing remain engaged in discussions over trade and economic issues. Disagreements persist over artificial intelligence, critical minerals and Taiwan, while negotiations on extending a trade truce remain unresolved.
Xi previously travelled to the US with a sizeable business delegation during his 2015 state visit. That group included Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent chairman Pony Ma and executives from Chinese state-owned enterprises.
The upcoming summit takes place as both governments face economic and political pressures. Trump is approaching the November midterm elections, while Xi is moving toward an expected fourth term amid concerns surrounding China’s slowing economy.
The size of the Chinese delegation may also be influenced by logistical constraints surrounding the White House state dinner, with Trump having previously cited limited space for large events at the presidential residence.