Trump to Visit Beijing for First Time in 8 Years for 48 Hours of Intensive Diplomacy With Xi

US and Chinese leaders to meet in Beijing for talks on AI, Taiwan, Iran and trade

At least six face-to-face events over two days could mark a turning point in ties

Summit groundwork to be laid in Seoul with advance talks by senior officials

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump will meet in Beijing on May 14-15 for intensive talks. The two leaders are set to meet at least six times over two days and discuss a broad range of issues including the Iran war, competition in artificial intelligence, Taiwan and economic cooperation.

China’s Foreign Ministry said on May 11 that Trump will pay a state visit to China from May 13 to May 15 at Xi’s invitation.

The White House announced on May 10 that Trump will arrive in Beijing on the evening of May 13, Beijing time. On May 14, he will attend a welcome ceremony, hold bilateral talks with Xi, tour Beijing’s Temple of Heaven and attend a state dinner.

Trump will wrap up the trip on May 15 with a tea meeting and working lunch with Xi before returning to the US.

The White House said the two leaders will meet in person at a minimum of six events across May 14-15. Trump’s trip will be his first visit to China since November 2017, during the first year of his first term, about eight and a half years ago. It will also be the first face-to-face summit between Trump and Xi in roughly six months, since their meeting in Busan in late October 2025 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

China has not publicly detailed the main agenda for the summit. The White House said the talks will cover discussions by US-China trade and investment committees and possible additional agreements in aerospace, agriculture and energy.

With the two leaders also scheduled to appear outdoors at sites including the Temple of Heaven, security in Beijing has been tightened further during Trump’s visit.

Trump’s armored limousine, along with communications and security equipment for the trip, already arrived in Beijing earlier in May aboard US Air Force transport aircraft. The summit, initially discussed for late March to early April, was delayed after Trump requested a postponement because of worsening tensions in the Middle East.

Ahead of the Beijing summit, senior trade negotiators from the two countries will meet in South Korea on May 13. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will accompany Trump to China, plans to visit South Korea and Japan beforehand.

Bessent wrote on X that he would visit Japan and South Korea for a series of meetings ahead of what he called Trump’s historic summit with Xi in Beijing.

He added that he plans to stop in Seoul on May 13 to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

That means a preliminary meeting between Bessent and He to coordinate the US-China summit will be held in Seoul rather than Beijing.

China also confirmed the trip to South Korea for advance US-China negotiations.

A spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry said on its website that He will visit South Korea on May 12-13 for economic and trade talks with the US side.

The ministry added that the two sides will negotiate economic and trade issues of mutual interest based on the important consensus reached by the two leaders at their Busan summit and in several phone calls. Attention is also focused on whether Bessent will meet Koo Yun-cheol, South Korea’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, during his visit.

Beijing correspondent Kim Eun-jung, Hankyung.com, kej@hankyung.com