Donald Trump arrives in China for crunch summit with Xi Jinping
Trump was welcomed by China's Vice President Han Zheng as he stepped off Air Force One.
US President Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing ahead of a crunch summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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Trump said late on Tuesday he will ask Chinese President Xi to "open up" China during his meeting with the leader.
The pair will hold their first face-to-face talks in more than six months as they try to stabilise ties strained by trade, the Iran war and other disagreements.
The CEOs accompanying Trump are drawn mainly from companies seeking to resolve business issues with China, such as Nvidia, which has struggled to get regulatory permission to sell its powerful H200 artificial intelligence chips there.
Trump asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the last minute to join the trip, said a source familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, and he was spotted boarding Air Force One during a refuelling stop in Alaska en route to Beijing.
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Trump shared a post on Truth Social listing the important figures joining him on his trip.
He wrote: "It is an Honor to have Jensen, Elon, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Brian Sikes (Cargill), Jane Fraser (Citi), Larry Culp (GE Aerospace), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and many others journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to 'open up' China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level."
He added: "In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!"
Asked about Trump's post, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said Beijing stands ready to "expand cooperation, manage differences and inject more stability and certainty into the turbulent world".
As Trump prepared for the pomp-filled occasion, his trade negotiator Scott Bessent wrapped up three hours of preparatory talks with Chinese officials in South Korea.
China's official Xinhua news agency described them as "candid, in-depth and constructive", but officials did not offer any detailed summary.
Trump's two days of meetings will include a grand reception at the Great Hall of the People, a tour of the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Temple of Heaven, and a state banquet.
Apart from trade, the talks will cover a host of sensitive subjects from the Iran war to US arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China.
Trump is widely expected to encourage China to pressure Tehran into striking a deal with Washington to end the conflict, though he has said he did not think he would need its help.
China reiterated on Wednesday its strong opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan, with the status of a $14-billion package awaiting Trump's approval still unclear.
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.