Here's the latest
• Arrival in Beijing: US President Donald Trump will soon land in China’s capital for the start of a multi-day state visit that carries global consequences, as the world’s two largest economies frame their trade relationship — and the tone of their rivalry.
• High-stakes talks: After Trump’s first night in Beijing, he will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss a range of thorny issues including tech, trade and Taiwan.
• Iran’s shadow: The US-Israeli war with Iran, and ensuing global energy crisis, looms over the trip. Trump is expected to encourage Xi to push China-ally Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint vital to oil trade, and agree to a peace deal.
• CEO caravan: Traveling with Trump are top officials and more than a dozen business leaders including Tim Cook and Elon Musk. Catch up on all the key developments here.
Historic attractions overlooking Tiananmen Square closed as security tightens
Beijing authorities have abruptly closed a popular historic tourist attraction overlooking Tiananmen Square, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to host a welcome ceremony for US President Donald Trump.
The Zhengyangmen Archery Tower, an imposing 600-year old building once part of Beijing’s historic city wall, will be closed to the public Thursday for “cooperating important events,” according to an official notice published on its WeChat social media account on Wednesday.
The notice did not offer details or make reference to the upcoming Trump visit, widely considered the most important diplomatic event in Beijing this year.
City views: Once serving as an important military fortress guarding the southern entry into Beijing’s inner city, the tower is now a popular tourist attraction, with hundreds of daily visitors climbing to the top of the 35-foot tall building to appreciate its panoramic views of Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People, and the mausoleum of China’s founding father Mao Zedong.
The notice apologized to visitors who had already booked tickets for Thursday and promised full refunds. Beijing’s capital museum, which also overlooks Tiananmen Square, is closed for the entire week for “important events’ security task,” according to its WeChat account.
Trump is landing in a very different China than the one he visited in 2017
Trump’s visit to China in 2017 seems like a lifetime ago in the span of US-China relations.
The first Trump administration’s trade war had yet to upend supply chains and reshape the relations between the world’s leading economic powerhouses.
Trump’s vitriol during the Covid-19 pandemic had yet to send relations into a bitter downward spiral. And a raft of restrictions on American high tech and tech funding going into China – as well as limits on Chinese tech in the US – were not yet in effect.
Now, Trump is landing in a country that has transformed in the face of these historic frictions.
Beijing in the intervening years has taken vast efforts to insulate itself from global shocks and tensions with the world’s largest economy.
It’s diversified its overseas trade partners to be less reliant on the American market and spurred its domestic firms to race to dominate emerging areas like AI and green technologies, while catching up on high-end chips and other sectors where China lags.
It’s also marshalled an upgrade of its industrial sector to ensure its place in manufacturing’s automated future, supercharging its export juggernaut along the way.
All this has only deepened its rivalry for tech dominance with the US – which is also more warily eyeing China’s massive global trade surplus.
But it’s also made Beijing more confident in its own place on the global stage – and relative to the US.
That confidence was on show when, a little more than a year ago, Beijing fought back against US levies – ratcheting up tit-for-tat tariffs against America and leveraging its hold over rare earth supply chains to show its strength. And it’s sure to be on show in the coming days.
This time around, with Trump in his court, Xi may feel more assured that he’s achieved one longstanding goal of China’s: being seen as an equal by the US.
Who’s traveling to China with Trump?
President Donald Trump is arriving in China with a plane full of top US officials and close aides, business leaders, and even family members.
The president is joined in Beijing by members of his national security and economic team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who traveled aboard Air Force One, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is arriving via Seoul, South Korea where he held trade talks with his Chinese counterpart ahead of the leader-level meetings.
And more than a dozen high-profile business leaders are along for the trip, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, who served in Trump’s first administration, as well as executives from Blackrock, Blackstone, Cargill, Citi, Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, Illumina, Mastercard, Micron, Qualcomm, and Visa.
Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are widely expected to roll out a series of new trade deals, and could discuss plans for a US-China board of trade and US-China board of investment.
The US delegation also includes the president’s son, Eric Trump, and daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. Lara Trump, who served as Republic National Committee co-chair during the 2024 campaign and now hosts a show on Fox News, has emerged as the de-facto Trump family spokesperson during the president’s second term, in the absence of the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, who was a senior adviser during his first term but has kept a much lower profile this term. First lady Melania Trump joined the president for his 2017 China trip but did not travel with the president this time around.
Fox News’ Sean Hannity was also spotted aboard Air Force One en route to Beijing.
CNN’s Kit Maher and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.
The last time Trump visited, Beijing rolled out the red carpet — and then some
The last time US President Donald Trump visited Beijing in November 2017, he was given a lavish and historic welcome.
He and first lady Melania Trump joined Chinese leader Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan for a tour of the Forbidden City, the historic palace that housed Chinese emperors and their families for almost 500 years.
Then they enjoyed dinner inside the Forbidden City – an exceptional honor not granted to any foreign leader since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
Trump was also treated to a series of cultural events and a grand welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Hall of the People, in the very heart of the Chinese capital.
It remains to be seen whether this trip will match the pomp and circumstance of last time.
But already there are significant events on Trump’s schedule. He and Xi will attend a welcome ceremony Thursday morning, then tour the Temple of Heaven – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – before enjoying a state banquet.
US and China trade envoys held “constructive” talks ahead of summit, Chinese state media says
Top trade delegations from the US and China held talks in South Korea on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported, ahead of the much-anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The delegations were headed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese vice premier He Lifeng.
Why Trump's visit to China matters
Donald Trump’s arrival in Beijing will mark a critical moment for the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship.
The visit is the first from an American president since Trump’s last trip in 2017 – and is playing out against a backdrop of what’s been years of intensifying rivalry between the world’s largest economies – and more recently, the US war with Iran, a close partner of China’s.
Trump’s two days of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which start on Thursday morning local time, are a rare opportunity for the men to discuss, face-to-face, frictions ranging from technology and trade to Taiwan – all issues with the potential to cause global knock-on effects if not managed well.
Iran shadow: The meetings could also play a role in how the US-Iran conflict might end.
Beijing, as a close partner of Tehran, is emerging as a potential peace broker, despite Trump’s insistence he doesn’t need China to end the war.
Trade: Outcomes of the wider China-US talks could include headline deals in areas like agriculture or aviation and headway in stabilizing trade relations or opening doors for further investment and market access between the two countries.
Relationships: But another key element is something less tangible: the rapport between the two men, who are set to spend hours together across formal meetings, a state banquet, a visit to the imperial-era Temple of Heaven, and tea at Zhongnanhai, the compound housing China’s leadership.
Trump has had an outsize role in reshaping America’s relationship with China during his time as leader – starting with a trade war in his first term that upended global supply chains and supercharged a US-China rivalry.
Now, the tone he and Xi set in two days of meetings could dictate the course of the relationship between the world’s two largest economies for years to come.
Iran war looms over Trump’s China visit
President Donald Trump had hoped to focus on US economic priorities with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but the Iran war — and his failed efforts at a peace deal — will complicate the US president’s prior goals. CNN’s Betsy Klein reports from Beijing.
President Donald Trump had hoped to focus on US economic priorities with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the Iran war — and his failed efforts at a peace deal — will complicate the US president’s prior goals. CNN's Betsy Klein reports from Beijing.
Here’s what Trump said before leaving for Beijing
As US President Donald Trump prepared to depart for his trip to Beijing, he made various remarks about the topics that might come up during his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
- On Iran: Trump said he would have a “long talk” with Xi about the Iran war, but downplayed the idea that he would need China’s assistance in ending the conflict. He added that the financial stresses of Americans are not top of mind for him as he pushes to make a peace deal with Iran, and that the top priority is preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” he said.
- On detainees: Trump said he would bring up two sensitive figures currently in detention: Jimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong media tycoon and high-profile government critic who was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year; and Ezra Jin Mingri, a Christian pastor who was swept up in a mass crackdown across various congregations last October.
- On Taiwan: The issue “always comes up” in these conversations, Trump said, adding that he believed Xi would raise the issue “more than I will.” The US Defense Department announced a $12.4 million military sale to Taiwan late Tuesday as Trump was departing for Beijing. China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to “reunify” with Taiwan, despite having never controlled the self-governing, democratic island.
President Trump was asked on Tuesday to what extent Americans’ financial situation was motivating him to make a deal with Iran.
