Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Tim Cook and other U.S. executives are joining President Trump’s China trip as he prepares for talks with Xi Jinping.
President Donald Trump is traveling to China with a delegation of senior U.S. business leaders that includes Elon Musk, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and Apple’s Tim Cook, bringing some of America’s most powerful corporate figures into a high-stakes visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
More than a dozen executives are part of the official U.S. delegation to Beijing, a White House official with knowledge of the plans told the BBC. The group spans technology, finance, manufacturing, aviation, agriculture, payments and biotechnology, reflecting the range of U.S. business interests tied to China at a moment of renewed economic and geopolitical strain.
Huang’s addition drew particular attention because Nvidia’s advanced artificial intelligence chips sit at the center of U.S.-China competition over semiconductors and export controls. He boarded Beijing-bound Air Force One during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, after a late invitation, the BBC reported. An Nvidia spokesperson told the BBC that Huang was attending “at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals.”
Trump also pushed back publicly against a media report that Huang had not been invited, writing on social media that the Nvidia chief was already on Air Force One and that it was “highly unlikely” he would ask him to leave.
The delegation also includes BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, Visa’s Ryan McInerney, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Cargill’s Brian Sikes, Citi’s Jane Fraser, Coherent’s Jim Anderson, GE Aerospace’s H. Lawrence Culp, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, Illumina’s Jacob Thaysen and Mastercard’s Michael Miebach, according to the BBC. Meta executive Dina Powell McCormick is also among those listed.
Micron Technology chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra is also joining the delegation. His presence is notable because Beijing restricted the use of some Micron chips in critical infrastructure in 2023 on national security grounds, a move the company has said hurt its business in China.
Not every executive who was invited is making the trip. Cisco chief executive and chairman Chuck Robbins had been invited but could not attend because of earnings, a company spokeswoman told the BBC. CBS News, citing a White House official’s list, reported that Qualcomm’s Christiano Amon was among executives invited to take part; the captured BBC account did not list him among executives joining the trip.
The visit comes as Trump and Xi prepare to meet in Beijing, the first visit to China by a U.S. president in nearly a decade, according to the BBC. The meeting is expected to test a fragile trade truce after a tariff fight in which duties at times rose above 100% before being paused in October 2025 following Trump’s last meeting with Xi in South Korea.
Economic and energy issues are also expected to be on the agenda. Trump told reporters Monday that he planned to discuss those subjects with Xi. The war involving the U.S. and Israel in Iran has already delayed the leaders’ meeting, and CBS News reported that uncertainty over the conflict has roiled global oil markets and supply chains.
The business delegation gives Trump’s trip a clear commercial dimension, but the immediate outcomes remain uncertain. The next signals to watch are whether the two leaders extend the trade pause, reach understandings on technology restrictions or secure Chinese cooperation on energy and Iran-related diplomacy.
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