Who’s coming to dinner? US business bigwigs set for Trump-Xi state banquet, China line-up unclear

WASHINGTON: A who’s who of American technology and business leaders is expected at the White House on Thursday (Sep 24) for United States President Donald Trump’s state dinner for Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping – but who will represent corporate China remains far less clear.

Xi is in the US for a three-day state visit, reciprocating Trump’s trip to Beijing four months ago. He touched down at Joint Base Andrews in Washington on Wednesday night, receiving a rare personal airport welcome from the US president.

The Chinese leader will hold talks with Trump on Thursday before being treated to a state dinner at the White House. The trip wraps up on Friday morning with tea and a visit to the National Archives.

Xi is accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, as well as a delegation of senior officials including his de facto chief of staff Cai Qi and foreign minister Wang Yi, state news agency Xinhua reported.

However, it remains unclear whether any of China’s corporate heavyweights are part of the visit, despite weeks of speculation.

Reuters reported on Sep 18 that Washington and Beijing were finalising the line-up of Chinese business leaders.

Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD, smartphone maker Xiaomi, battery giants CATL and Gotion, as well as consumer electronics manufacturer Hisense and state-owned Bank of China were among the companies under consideration, Reuters said, citing sources.

But on Wednesday, Reuters reported that Xi would visit Washington without a CEO delegation, citing people familiar with the matter. AFP separately reported, citing sources, that no Chinese CEOs were accompanying Xi on the trip.

Meanwhile, an unnamed source told US news outlet CNBC that they were not aware of any Chinese companies that have been invited to join Xi on his trip.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said he had “no information to share” when asked at a regular press briefing on Wednesday if Beijing was able to confirm whether Xi will be accompanied by a delegation of Chinese executives during his visit to Washington.

The White House has yet to release a full guest list, leaving open the possibility that Chinese executives could still attend Thursday’s state dinner separately.

However, their apparent absence stands in contrast with Trump’s visit to Beijing in May, when the US president travelled with more than a dozen American business and tech leaders, including Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Tesla boss Elon Musk and Apple’s then-CEO Tim Cook.

There is considerably more clarity over the American corporate presence at Thursday’s state banquet.

Huang, Musk and Cook - now Apple’s executive chairman - are reportedly on the roster. Other prominent names set to attend include Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

Dell CEO Michael Dell, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will also be at the dinner, US business magazine Forbes reported.

The heavy presence of tech moguls at Thursday’s dinner comes as artificial intelligence and semiconductors have emerged as key areas of competition between the US and China.

Preliminary talks on Sunday between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng included discussion of creating a communication channel for AI concerns.

The Trump-Xi summit in Washington takes place with US-China ties on steadier ground, but the underlying strategic rivalry is largely unchanged, say analysts.

Expectations of any breakthroughs are low. Analysts say the main aim of the pageantry is to maintain a fragile calm between the superpower rivals.