Trump Presses Xi Jinping on Iran During Beijing State Visit May 13-15

Beijing has confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to China this week to meet Xi Jinping, with the visit set for 13-15 May and described as the first to China by a U.S. president in nearly a decade.

“Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening to discuss the Iran war and other issues with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping”

Al Jazeera

The BBC said the trip will test a “fragile truce” between Washington and Beijing, after April 2025 sweeping import taxes helped trigger a tit-for-tat trade war in which tariffs topped 100% before being paused after Trump and Xi’s last face-to-face meeting in South Korea in October.

Al Jazeera

The CNBC agenda for the Beijing summit spans trade, technology, rare earth export controls, Taiwan, the Iran war, and artificial intelligence, as China’s decision to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets and its ban on semiconductors from Nexperia China “upended supply chains central to global automakers.”

The AP said Trump arrives in Beijing on Wednesday night and will meet Xi one-on-one before the two leaders tour the Temple of Heaven, with a state banquet on Thursday evening and a tea and working lunch on Friday before leaving.

In the run-up, the BBC reported that threats from both sides have continued even after the October pause, while CNBC said “Virtually everyone has a stake in the outcome of this meeting.”

The AP framed the trip as potentially “a bit chillier” than Trump’s first-term visit, citing Beijing’s deep economic ties to Iran alongside trade tensions over tariff threats stretching back to Trump’s first term.

Al Jazeera reported that Trump is set to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening to discuss the Iran war and other issues with Xi, with White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly saying the trip would be of “tremendous symbolic significance” and focus on “rebalancing the relationship with China and prioritising reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence.”

Al-Ayyam News

CNN said the U.S. administration imposed sanctions on 12 companies and individuals it described as “helping to facilitate the sale and shipment of oil from Iran to China” just days before the scheduled meeting in Beijing.

CNBC said both the U.S. and China have said Taiwan will sit atop the agenda, and it quoted Wang Yi telling the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 30 that Taiwan was “the biggest point of risk” in the bilateral relationship.

The AP added that White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the leaders would discuss creating a new Board of Trade and talking up key industries like energy, aerospace and agriculture, while China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the diplomacy “plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role” in the bilateral relation.

The BBC described the visit as a key test in the fragile trade truce after April 2025 tariffs that saw the U.S. and China hit each other with tariffs that topped 100%, with the pause coming only after Trump and Xi’s last face-to-face meeting in South Korea in October.

CNBC said China’s suspension of rare earth exports and its ban on semiconductors from Nexperia China have already “upended supply chains central to global automakers,” and it warned that a contentious summit could prolong economic and geopolitical volatility, “crippling global trade and growth.”

The Washington Post said Xi wants to stabilize the bilateral relationship after “tit-for-tat export controls and sweeping U.S. sanctions on Chinese shipping firms and vessels suspected of doing business with the Iranian regime,” and it quoted Wang Huiyao saying “China, after almost a decade of dealing with the U.S., has more experience and confidence now.”

The Washington Post also reported fears among American allies and partners that Xi may use the meeting to push for U.S. concessions on Taiwan and weaken Taiwan’s ability to defend itself, while CNBC said any rhetorical softening from Trump would be “the most destabilizing outcome” of the summit.

In parallel, Al Jazeera said an anonymous administration official told news outlets on Sunday that Trump could “apply pressure” to China on Iran in areas such as oil sales and Tehran’s purchase of potential dual-role military-civilian goods, while also saying no change was expected regarding the U.S. stance on Taiwan.