Monjita Sarkar 
US President Donald Trump flew to Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping to discuss crucial issues such as tariffs, the war in Iran, AI, trade etc.
The welcome of the President was marked by great grandeur and pomp, as it marked the occasion of the first state visit by a President of the US to China in nearly 9 years. Trump’s two-day visit to China will feature a formal reception at the Great Hall of the People, a visit to the historic Temple of Heaven which is a six-century-old imperial site in Beijing, and an official state banquet.
The visit also had Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia as a last minute addition to the trip.Other CEOs accompanying the President are mainly from companies seeking to resolve business disputes with China including Nvidia, which has faced barriers to getting regulatory permission to sell its powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips there.
Trump said he would ask President Xi to open China up to American business leaders, while Beijing expressed willingness to expand cooperation and manage differences. Meanwhile, his trade negotiator Scott Bessent wrapped up three rounds of negotiations on trade-talks in South Korea.
Beyond trade, the two sides are expected to discuss a range of contentious issues, including the conflict with Iran, arms sales to Taiwan,a self-governing island that China considers to be part of its sovereignty. China reaffirmed its firm opposition to American weapons being supplied to the island, with the fate of a proposed $14 billion arms package still pending Trump’s decision. The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) is a US federal law which commits the US to provide Taiwan with defensive arms.
Discussions around China’s role as a mediator in the Iran conflict is also expected to be had. China and Iran share diplomatic relations on several fronts. China and Iran share a long-standing relationship spanning several decades, with China serving as Iran’s largest trade partner. The disrupted supply of oil exports also pushes China to exert its political and economic influence over Iran.
