China’s Xi Jinping plans major CEO delegation for US visit: Here’s why

Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing a large business delegation to accompany him to the Washington summit on September 24.

As reported by Reuters, this move signals China’s willingness to support investment and commercial ties with the United States while offering the White House potential economic wins ahead of midterm elections. However, it remains to be seen what breakthrough would this summit bring for both global powers. But the expectations are modest.

As per analysts, this is an unusual move, as Xi rarely travels abroad with corporate executives following years of domestic regulatory crackdowns on sectors like tech, education, and property.

The announcement comes as the Chinese companies have been facing strict scrutiny based on investment stemming from the US and business operations in recent years.

The US measures included 100 percent tariff on imported Chinese EVs, bans on certain foreign tech and drone imports, forced divestitures like TikTok ventures and blacklisting of major Chinese tech firms based on national security threat.

Xi last brought a major business contingent to the US in 2015 including founders of Alibaba and Tencent.

On the contrary, President Donald Trump travelled to China with large delegations of American executives such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Elon Musk in 2017 and May of this year.

For the September visit, there is no confirmation yet which executives would join as a part of the delegation.

Summit expectations and priorities

Speaking about the summit expectations, sources defined them modestly. The Board of Investment is unlikely to produce significant deliverables due to the challenging US trade environment. Both countries are divided over the status of products, qualifying as "non-sensitive" under the Board of Trade. About 10 categories are currently being discussed.

The US priorities include reaching the Board of Trade agreement, securing rare earth export licenses, and urging China to comply with a previous trade truce from Busan.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Thursday that both ​countries will make "some announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers" during the summit, without providing specifics.