U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, Korea, Oct. 30, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap

BEIJING/WASHINGTON — A summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping this month is unlikely to create room for even a limited reset of business and investment ties, five people briefed on preparations said.

American business leaders at this stage have not secured the CEO delegation some had sought. On the other side, there is no indication Beijing is on track for the investment protections it has sought on behalf of Chinese companies.

Washington and Beijing are looking to maintain the stability that has characterised relations between the world's two largest economies since late last year after a bruising period marked by Trump’s tariffs and China’s chokehold on rare earths exports.

But some U.S. companies had also held out hope Trump’s visit could go further than a green light for the deals on Chinese purchases of soybeans and Boeing aircraft, already under consideration.

Workers clean a road near Tiananmen Square, during the annual National People's Congress (NPC) meetings at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, March 6. Reuters-Yonhap

Overshadowing the summit — the first Trump-Xi meeting since they agreed on the trade truce in October — has been Chinese frustration with the Trump administration's last-minute planning for an event that normally takes months of painstaking preparations, three people with knowledge of the arrangements told Reuters.

Uncertainties, besides clearance for Chinese investment, include the thorny issue of Trump's tariffs and whether he will be joined by the kind of high-profile business delegation that the leaders of Canada, Britain and Germany recently brought to China on their state visits.

"This feels like an ever-shrinking state visit. The ambition for what this trip will accomplish seems to be getting smaller by the day," said Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.

The White House, Treasury Department, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and China's commerce and foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment on prospects for the summit.

Source: Korea Times News