U.S. President Donald Trump participates in an arrival ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport during his visit to the country, in Beijing, China, May 13, 2026.
Evan Vucci | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump has landed in Beijing for a highly anticipated presidential summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
Trump is being accompanied on the trip by a group of executives from some of America’s most valuable companies, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.
The president was greeted on the tarmac by a brass band and flag wavers, who performed as he descended the steps of Air Force One.
On Thursday, Trump is scheduled to participate in a welcome ceremony and hold a bilateral meeting with Xi, before touring the historic Temple of Heaven and attending a state banquet.
He will leave China on Friday, following tea and a working lunch with Xi.
The high-stakes talks between the two leaders are expected to cover tariffs, rare earths, AI, the Iran war and Taiwan. Experts are anticipating that Trump and Xi may announce large Chinese orders of American planes and soybeans when the meetings are concluded.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said he expected “great things” to come out of the summit.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who just travelled to China with a congressional delegation, said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that it is “in both leaders’ interest to keep the relationship stable, and to de-escalate, not decouple.”
“We hope to see some kind of trade deals come out, I think it will be Boeing, beef and beans,” Daines said.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.