Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to show a conciliatory tone with American business leaders during US President Donald Trump’'s state visit to Beijing, telling executives that China’ ’ will only open its door wider, and “ said China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial and win-win.
The statement comes at a time when China’ is trying to use Trump’'s visit to reflect economic stability and present itself as an attractive destination for foreign investment at a time when growth is slowing and geopolitical uncertainty is rising.
According to statements by China's foreign ministry and state-run Xinhua news agency, Xi said Beijing ’ will continue to expand market access and improve conditions for foreign companies operating in the country.
Even the Chinese president, “, went so far as to say that ’ businesses are deeply involved in China’'s reform and opening-up efforts, and that ” and the country welcome further mutually beneficial cooperation from its main economic rival.
Xi also described economic globalization as “, an irreversible historical trend; Because the Chinese state media on the summit focused predominantly on economic cooperation, China portrayed ’i as a country that supports open global markets and stable supply chains.
Despite positive messages about Trump ’'s visit, major disputes between Washington and Beijing, particularly in the tech sector, remain unresolved.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations imposed restrictions on China ’e's exports of advanced semiconductor technology due to national security concerns. Beijing has repeatedly criticized these measures, arguing that China has unfairly curtailed ’'s technological development.
No concrete development has yet been shared with the public on reaching an agreement on easing these restrictions or resolving problems in other sectors.
Even so, both governments seemed willing to present the visit constructively; Beijing has used the presence of leading American executives to reinforce the message that China’ is open to trade, despite ongoing tensions with Washington.
CEO’s meet with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang
In addition to the headline meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, many senior American executives held separate meetings with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and other senior economic officials in Beijing’.
According to reports in Chinese state media, the bilateral talks mainly focused on market access, investment conditions and cooperation in the high-tech sectors.
Executives including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, dismissed Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’, as well as other representatives of major financial and industrial companies, reportedly discussed supply chains, artificially intelligent electric vehicles and semiconductor policy with their Chinese counterparts.
While concrete agreements were not made public, Chinese officials underlined continuity and economic stability.
According to state-linked sources that emerged after the meetings, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang reiterated Xi’'s message that China’ will continue to improve the business environment for foreign companies and expand its outreach policies.
The bilateral institutional meetings reflected Beijing ’'s broader strategy of separating trade relations from broader political disagreements with Washington ’, and underlined the increasingly central role played by large multinational companies in US-China diplomacy.
For Beijing, Trump’'s visit, as well as the hosting of leading American executives, allows Chinese leaders to have confidence in themselves at a time of economic pressure and growing scrutiny by Western governments.
For the companies involved, the trip offers a rare opportunity to interact directly with China’'s top leaders amid ongoing uncertainty over tariffs, export controls and regulatory hurdles.
However, analysts with quotes quoted by many international publications warned that while the opinions are positive, the talks are unlikely to resolve the deeper structural tensions that have shaped the relationship between the two superpowers.
