U.S. President Donald Trump makes a toast during a state banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026 in Beijing, China.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING — With two days to go before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to land in the U.S., very little is known about which, if any, Chinese executives will join him.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement to CNBC Tuesday it had no information to provide. Late on Monday, the ministry confirmed Xi’s U.S. trip, planned for Wednesday to Friday.
Someone briefed about the preparations but who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record said they weren’t aware of any Chinese companies who have been invited to join the Chinese president on his trip.
On the U.S. side, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is one of the executives who will attend a dinner expected Thursday in Washington, D.C., according to a source familiar.
Microsoft and the White House did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Senior U.S. officials have shared names of some other executives who will join:
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Apple CEO Tim Cook arrive for the meeting between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and U.S. business representatives, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 14, 2026.
Go Nakamura | Reuters
Those business leaders include:
- Nvidia’s Jensen Huang
- OpenAI’s Sam Altman
- Google’s Sundar Pichai
- Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk
- Citigroup’s Jane Fraser
- Amazon’s Jeff Bezos
- Apple’s Tim Cook
- Dell’s Michael Dell
- Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg
Boeing CEO Kelly Orthberg joined U.S. executives in a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on May 14, 2026, alongside the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
On the Chinese side, Reuters reported last week that business representatives under consideration included those from electric car giant BYD, smartphone company Xiaomi, battery makers CATL and Gotion, consumer electronics manufacturer Hisense, automotive parts company Wanxiang, state-owned Bank of China and agricultural conglomerate COFCO Group.
BYD had no comment when contacted by CNBC. Hours before Xi’s arrival in the U.S., Gotion said it had not received official confirmation of participation.
The other Chinese companies did not respond to requests for comment.
“Whether or not BYD participates in the Trump-Xi meetings this week will send a strong signal about the possibility of Chinese EVs in America, and how important Xi views EVs in China’s overseas expansion strategy,” said Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of U.S.-based advisory Strategy Risks.
Xi could bring the heads of state-owned enterprises, “but those are government officials, who in some cases are effectively ministers in the Chinese government,” he said. “That may seem to the US as unfairly blurring the lines between a business delegation and a government delegation, and SOEs are on the whole less welcome investors in the US than private companies.”
As tensions between the U.S. and China have…
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