Trump gets red-carpet welcome in China, but past Beijing trip shows pageantry only goes so far
President Trump received a red-carpet welcome when he landed in Beijing on Wednesday, with a military honor guard, band and children waving American and Chinese flags ahead of high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The ceremony also highlighted the bigger question around Trump’s return to China: whether this visit can yield more lasting progress than his 2017 trip, which featured major business announcements but was later followed by a sharp deterioration in U.S.-China trade relations.
The meeting comes as trade tensions, the Iran war and disputes over Taiwan place new pressure on Washington and Beijing to stabilize relations between the world’s two largest economies.
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The red carpet was rolled out with a welcome ceremony consisting of military honor guard and a military band with Chinese children waving American and Chinese flags. "Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!" the children chanted in Chinese.
Trump exited Air Force One and was greeted by United States Ambassador to China David Perdue, Chinese Vice President H.E. Han Zheng, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States H.E. Xie Feng, and Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Ma Zhaoxu.
First Lady Melania Trump accompanied Trump nearly nine years ago for his first state visit. The 2017 trip emphasized pomp, personal diplomacy and commercial announcements, and included excursions such as a Forbidden City tour, a Peking opera performance, and a formal welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.
The 2017 trip produced more than $250 billion in announced commercial deals and cooperation pledges, but it did not prevent trade relations from deteriorating in 2018.
Most notably, Trump announced a $12 billion deal for cellphone chips from Qualcomm and $37 billion for Boeing commercial jets, AP reported at the time.
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"These deals will create jobs for American workers, farmers, and ranchers by increasing United States exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities," the White House said at the time.
A strategic focus of his first visit was North Korea’s nuclear program. Trump and Xi agreed at the time that North Korea should not become a nuclear weapons state, declaring the two countries would apply "maximum pressure."
China had already tightened enforcement earlier that year, including suspending North Korean coal imports, while Trump later said Chinese banks were scaling back business with North Korean entities. But U.S.-China cooperation weakened as broader trade tensions escalated, and North Korea continued advancing its missile and nuclear programs.
The summit did not prevent a sharp deterioration in trade relations the following year, after Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, triggering a prolonged trade standoff.
Trump’s latest visit comes after a broader tariff escalation in which his administration imposed sweeping duties on imports from dozens of countries, with China emerging as the central flashpoint after Beijing retaliated and later tightened export controls on rare earth minerals, prompting Trump to threaten an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods.
Trump is expected to press Xi on trade once again, suggesting that American entrepreneurs and executives could help drive growth inside China if Beijing lowers barriers and allows U.S. firms more room to operate.
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Accompanying Trump on the trip are top U.S. executives, including Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.
Iran is expected to be among the issues surrounding the talks, though Trump has downplayed differences with Xi over the war.
Trump and Xi will hold bilateral talks and a formal banquet Thursday.
Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.