Xi Jinping’s Washington visit takes an unexpected turn: What to know

According to recent reports, China’s President Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington this week without the delegation of Chinese business leaders that Beijing had requested for meetings with US President Donald Trump.

Earlier, China was securing the final members of a leadership panel to join Xi’s US trip including companies facing US regulatory oversight.

Sources tell us that the White House has other priorities, and that US officials did not want Chinese firms that they believe have major links to China’s military to be present. Trump is set to host a state dinner for Xi at the White House on Thursday which US company executives are anticipated to attend.

The gathering will primarily bring together senior business leaders during an international summit. The dinner next week is conducted for Xi Jinping during his Washington visit , inviting US top leaders like Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. State dinners are among the highest diplomatic honors a US president can confer on a foreign leader and are commonly reserved for heads of allied nations.