First China Visit in Nearly a Decade: Trump Heads to Beijing from May 13-15 for Key Talks

United States President Donald Trump will pay an official state visit to China from May 13 to 15 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping , the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday. The visit marks the first trip by a US president to China in nearly nine years , the last being Trump’s own visit in November 2017 during his first presidency.

Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening, where his itinerary includes a formal welcome ceremony , a one-on-one meeting with Xi Jinping , a tour of the iconic Temple of Heaven , and a state banquet . On Friday, the two leaders will hold a working lunch before Trump departs. The White House has confirmed that following this visit, Trump looks forward to hosting President Xi and Madam Peng for a reciprocal visit in Washington DC later this year .

The agenda is expected to cover trade tensions , the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict , Taiwan , artificial intelligence , nuclear weapons , and critical minerals . Senior US officials said Trump is expected to press Xi on China’s economic ties with Iran and Russia, particularly regarding oil revenues, dual-use goods, and potential weapons exports . China has also been positioning itself as having influenced Iran toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz , whose blockade has deepened the global energy crisis.

On the trade front, the summit comes against a backdrop of a turbulent economic relationship . Tensions escalated sharply in early 2025 when Trump announced sweeping tariffs, triggering Chinese retaliation, with both sides raising duties beyond 100%, while Beijing tightened rare earth export restrictions . A turning point came at the Busan Summit in October 2025 , where both leaders agreed to reduce tariffs, ease rare earth curbs, and resume Chinese purchases of American soybeans. That meeting also produced a one-year trade truce , now due for renewal during the Beijing talks.

In a final round of pre-summit negotiations, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Seoul on May 12 and 13 to lay groundwork for the leaders’ summit.

Taiwan is also expected to feature prominently, with Beijing pressing Washington to reconsider its security commitments to the island, while Taipei closely monitors any policy shift from the US.

Analysts at the Council on Foreign Relations describe the summit as an attempt to stabilize US-China r elations rather than resolve deep-rooted disputes, citing continuing disagreements over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and China’s ties with Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Still, with two of the world’s most influential leaders meeting face-to-face in Beijing, global attention remains fixed on whether the talks could signal a new phase in US-China relations amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.