Chinese and U.S. flags fly near the Bund before the U.S. trade delegation meets their Chinese counterparts for talks in Shanghai, China, July 30, 2019.
Aly song | Reuters
BEIJING – The United States and China are intensifying their ties in East Asia ahead of the highly anticipated presidential summit in Beijing later this week.
Trade negotiators from both countries are scheduled to meet with China’s Xi Jinping in Seoul, South Korea, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The packed itinerary reflects the regional dynamics at play in U.S.-China relations, with the summit being closely watched by world leaders.
Here is the full agenda:
Tuesday: Bessent in Japan
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived in Japan on Monday where he will meet Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Japan is one of the countries most affected by the Iran war, as the Asian country relies on the Middle East for about 75% of its oil imports.
Bessent’s visit comes at a time when relations between Beijing and Tokyo are strained after Takaichi made comments in November that Tokyo would support Taiwan if it was threatened by Beijing’s military, prompting a sharp response from Beijing. She did not soften her statement despite requests from Beijing.
During their visit to the United States in March, Trump and Takaichi “advocated for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” according to the White House.
Japan will closely monitor the official wording on Taiwan after the Trump-Xi meeting. The US president said on Monday that arms sales to Taipei would be on the summit agenda.
Wednesday: US-China trade talks in South Korea
According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead a delegation to South Korea for trade talks with the United States from Tuesday to Wednesday. The reading did not mention other meetings, but made reference to the Trump-Xi summit in Busan, South Korea, in October last year.
Although it is not clear whether Bessent took into account time zone differences in the U.S., his announcement said only that he “will hold a discussion with Vice Premier He Lifeng of China in Seoul” on Wednesday.
This is a sign of the tight schedule – and therefore the results to be delivered – for this week’s summit in Beijing. China only officially confirmed the meeting on Monday.
“In our view, the summit will be more about avoiding an unnecessary escalation of tensions and managing risks than about building structural mechanisms and forging deep friendships,” Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, said in a note on Monday.
“The most urgent item on the agenda is the Iran-Hormuz crisis,” he said.
Thursday: Trump in China
According to the White House, Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening.
The next morning, he will attend a welcoming ceremony and hold a bilateral meeting with Xi before they visit the historic Temple of Heaven – a 15th-century landmark in central Beijing. The evening ends with a state banquet.
The White House has invited more than a dozen US leaders to accompany Trump on his trip to China. The leaders include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg. However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was not on the list.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit China, China’s imports of Boeing aircraft, US soybeans and beef are likely to rise as a result of the Trump-Xi summit but are unlikely to recover to recent highs.
The size of Chinese purchases will likely be limited by U.S. concessions on technology exports, which in turn will be constrained by dynamics in Washington, EIU analysts said.
Friday: Trump leaves Beijing
Before the US President leaves China, he is expected to drink tea with Xi and have a working lunch.
As discussed at last fall’s summit in Busan, Xi is expected to visit the United States later this year, and the conclusion of the meeting this week in Beijing will be closely watched for guidance on an exact travel date.
The Chinese leader visited the U.S. as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in 2023, but has not made an official state visit since 2015, during the Obama administration. During his first term in office, Trump also visited China in 2017, while his successor Joe Biden refrained from traveling to the Asian country.
Xi could visit the US in December for the G20 meeting in Florida. Trump is expected to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Shenzhen in November, where the two leaders could meet again.
Next week: A possible Putin visit
The high-level political engagement is rounded off by growing expectations that Russian head of state Vladimir Putin could visit Beijing as early as Monday, May 18th.
Trump and Putin’s expected visit will join around a dozen world leaders who have passed through Beijing in the first five months of 2026 alone as China’s influence grows.
Before Trump, Xi received Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. Last week, Iran’s foreign minister also traveled to Beijing for the first time since the Iran War.
Iran will definitely be discussed during the Trump-Xi summit, said Cui Shoujun, a professor at the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China.
China is one of the few countries with relations with Iran and the Gulf states, he stressed, noting that Beijing wants to help resolve tensions. On the larger issue of U.S.-China relations, Cui stressed that this week’s meeting between the two presidents is just the beginning of further discussions.
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