Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, the U.S. government is inviting CEOs of major companies such as Nvidia, Apple, ExxonMobil, and Boeing to accompany President Trump on his visit to China next week, but they have reportedly declined the Chinese side’s invitation to arrange special talks between the accompanying company executives and senior Chinese officials. Executives from Qualcomm, Blackstone Group, Citigroup, and Visa were also among those invited.
The U.S. rejected China’s invitation to organize industry-specific talks between senior Chinese leaders and U.S. company CEOs, believing that such a move could make U.S. companies appear to have too close a relationship with Beijing. The White House has not formally invited the business executives, and the initial list of 24 proposed executives to accompany the visit may eventually be reduced by half. However, sources say Boeing CEO John Ottberg and Citigroup CEO Richard Fraser are indeed scheduled to visit, with Boeing set to finalize its largest aircraft order in nearly a decade with China.
Trump visited China in 2017 during his first presidential term, accompanied by nearly 30 executives. The two sides signed agreements worth over US$250 billion, setting a record for Sino-US economic and trade cooperation.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, May 8, 2026
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20260508-9015326?ref=global-top-news-13