America’s most powerful CEOs don’t have much to show from their China trip so far
By Laurie Chen and Casey Hall
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 15 (Reuters) – America’s richest and most powerful executives, from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, sought to revive trade ties with China at a leadership summit in Beijing this week with red carpet treatment, selfies and culinary diplomacy.
But as U.S. President Donald Trump departed Beijing on Friday afternoon, there was little clarity about what the summit would hold for the business delegation traveling with the president.
The existence of a group of the most powerful corporate leaders in the United States representing companies such as AppleMeta underscores the importance of the Chinese market even as political leaders — Boeing, Cargill and Goldman Sachs — grapple with strained relations over trade, artificial intelligence and broader geopolitical tensions.
Face-to-face meetings with Chinese officials and policymakers are vital for U.S. executives looking to understand and manage regulatory and policy hurdles, secure deals and expand their footprint in the world’s second-largest economy.
Analysts said the purpose of this visit was to generate political goodwill, unlike the last US presidential visit to Beijing early in Trump’s first term in 2017, which featured a larger CEO delegation and $250 billion worth of agreements and memorandums of understanding.
“Beijing never approaches this kind of leadership summit from a purely transactional perspective,” said Feng Chucheng, founder and partner of Hutong Research, a Beijing-based strategic consultancy. “I wouldn’t use the size of the agreements to measure the outcome of the summit.”
“His top priority is to find a mutually agreed upon ‘floor’ for the bilateral relationship and to establish a set of guardrails to avoid uncontrolled, unexpected tensions.”
It remains to be seen whether positive sentiment will help unlock regulatory approvals, market access and investment opportunities as firms face broader operational challenges beyond trade deal-making in China.
Some executives plan to stay in China to continue talks with officials after Trump’s departure, and more deal announcements could be announced in the coming days.
Based on Trump’s comments, what appears to have already been agreed upon, although a formal announcement is pending, is the purchase of 200 Boeing jets.
While this is seen as a tangible result, it is fewer than the 500 aircraft expected and the 300 purchased during the 2017 visit.
It has not yet been possible for China to allow the sale of H200, Nvidia’s second most powerful artificial intelligence chip, which is allowed to be sold by the USA to some Chinese companies.
