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WASHINGTON — President Trump’s self-described “great relationship” with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will be put to the test starting later Tuesday as the US president travels to Beijing for the first time in nine years.
Over two days of meetings, Trump is expected to raise a series of concerns about artificial intelligence, the global economy, trade and nuclear weapons. He will also be traveling with a who’s who of CEOs to help him make his case for Chinese investment in America.
Xi, in turn, wants to see America tone down its support for Taiwan — the self-governing island China claims as its own territory — and keep Trump from hitting Beijing with another series of devastating tariffs.
Trump’s visit was initially scheduled for early April, but was pushed back due to the war with Iran. As with last month’s state visit of King Charles III, the president is expected to keep the Middle East conflict on the back burner in order to give the pomp and circumstance of the state visit his full attention.
Asked what he hopes to get out of the summit, Trump responded: “A lot.”
“I have a great relationship with President Xi. We’re doing a lot of business, but it’s smart business,” he told reporters in the Oval Office Monday.
Here’s a look at the major issues up for discussion:
Artificial Intelligence
This week will mark the first time Trump and Xi discuss artificial intelligence face-to-face amid questions about rules that will govern the “tech race” between Washington and Beijing.
The Trump administration said the two sides should keep an open “channel of communication,” but a senior US official was quick to downplay any expectations for a breakthrough.
“We want to take this opportunity with the leaders’ meeting to open up a conversation and to see if we should establish a channel of communication on AI matters,” this person said, adding the two sides need to find “channels of de-confliction” amid concerns about the role advanced AI models play in areas like cyber-espionage.
Trade
Beijing is expected to announce purchases of US airplanes, agricultural products and energy during the two-day sitdown, which would be a major win for Trump.
A senior US official declined to detail the exact purchases expected but said talks have been happening “for a quite a while.”
“They know it’s something that they need. They know it’s something we want to sell,” the official told reporters on a call Sunday. “Those are the primary sectors where we’re looking at potential purchase agreements.”
Farmers, one of the president’s key groups of supporters, want to see China put in a large order for soybeans. Meanwhile, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is traveling with the US delegation as his company lobbies to sell its pricey planes to the Chinese government.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will also attend the summit in the hope of moving deals along.
“Trade will dominate the summit agenda,” Patricia Kim, China scholar at the Brookings Institution, told reporters at a briefing. “It’s also the issue President Trump is most personally invested in. I think Beijing’s priorities are similarly pragmatic. It’s extending the trade truce, preserving access to US technology, and rolling back — or at least preventing the further tightening — of US export controls.”
Trump imposed 20% tariffs on China early in his second term and then, in April 2025, added a 34% levy, making the total US tariffs on China among the highest of any country. Beijing retaliated by cracking down on agricultural imports — hurting American farmers — and closing access to rare earth minerals, a topic Trump hopes to reopen during the summit.
A meeting between Trump and Xi in October 2025 led to the US lowering tariffs to 10% on certain goods. The Supreme Court’s February ruling striking down certain emergency tariffs was also a boost for Beijing, though high duties remain on certain goods — including 100% on electric vehicles and 50% on certain steel andaluminum products.
“During this visit, President Trump will continue doing what he has done over the past year: Rebalancing the relationship with China and prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence,” White House deputy spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
Taiwan
The small island is at the top of the agenda for Xi, who will hope to take advantage of Trump’s off-the-cuff style to change American policy on Taiwan.
“Beijing has been very clear that Taiwan has to be a part of the conversation,” Kim said. “It makes it highly certain that Xi Jinping will use this summit to press President Trump on Taiwan.”
Under the US’ “One China” policy, Washington acknowledges Beijing’s claim to Taiwan, but does not explicitly accept it, and avoids direct advocacy for Taiwan independence
Meanwhile, the US is one of Taiwan’s biggest arms dealers. In December, Trump announced the largest ever weapons package for the island, worth more than $11 billion.
Trump has said he will talk about weapons sales and other issues related to the island when he meets with Xi.
“I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi,” he said Monday. “President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion. That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about.”
While American officials have been careful to insist there are no policy changes coming, Taiwan is watching very closely.
“We hope that the Trump-Xi summit does not produce any surprises regarding Taiwan-related issues,” Taipei Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said Thursday.
Nuclear Weapons
China has been reluctant to talk about its rapidly growing nuclear arsenal.
Estimates had Xi’s government with between 600 and620 operational warheads as of early 2026, making China the world’s third-largest nuclear force. Analysts say that stockpile could grow to more than 1,000 warheads by 2030 and up to 1,500 by 2035.
Trump has said he wants to discuss the nuclear issue in his meeting with Xi, but a senior US official downplayed the possibility, saying of the Chinese: “They have no interest in sitting down and discussing any kind of nuclear arms control or anything along those lines at this point.”
Prisoners’ Plight
Trump has pledged to talk to Xi about human rights issues, including the cases of Pastor Ezra Jin, a minister with American family members who was imprisoned during a Chinese crackdown, and that of tycoon Jimmy Lai, a prominent critic of Beijing who founded a pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong.
In December, Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison. At the time, Trump expressed sympathy, saying he felt “badly” for Lai.
The president has since vowed to bring up the case to Xi.
“I’d like to see him get out,” Trump said Monday. “So I’ll bring him up again.”
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