Xi's Washington Visit to Feature Chinese Business Delegation

Washington and Beijing are finalising a group of Chinese business leaders to accompany President Xi Jinping on his visit to Washington, according to people familiar with the arrangements. Invitations are expected to be issued in the coming days, with US visas for the delegation anticipated to be cleared by the State Department.

Among the companies under consideration are electric vehicle maker BYD, smartphone and EV manufacturer Xiaomi, battery producers CATL and Gotion, consumer electronics firm Hisense, auto parts supplier Wanxiang Group and state-owned Bank of China. The list has not been finalised.

BYD declined to comment, while CATL, Xiaomi, Wanxiang, Hisense, Gotion and Bank of China did not respond to requests for comment. A US Treasury spokesperson referred questions to the White House, which did not respond. China's foreign ministry said it had no information, and the commerce ministry did not respond.

Companies have reportedly been told to prepare pending confirmation at a meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng this weekend.

Companies facing US pressure

The delegation is expected to include firms that have encountered US sanctions, blacklists or other regulatory hurdles, mirroring President Trump's decision to bring executives from US companies facing Chinese scrutiny on his Beijing trip in May.

A Biden-era rule will bar China-linked manufacturers from selling new connected passenger vehicles in the US from model year 2027, and Washington imposes a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs. US automakers have urged Trump not to open the market to Chinese carmakers, though Trump said last week he would support Chinese companies building cars in the US.

CATL and BYD were added to a Pentagon list of companies over alleged military links in January 2025 and June 2026 respectively. Ford licenses CATL technology for batteries made at its Michigan plant, a partnership criticised by US lawmakers. Gotion is suing Michigan's Green Charter Township over a blocked $2.36 billion EV-components plant, and Wanxiang agreed in December to pay more than $53 million to resolve a Justice Department case over customs and anti-dumping duties.

Reciprocity and summit expectations

Beijing is seeking arrangements similar in scale to Trump's May delegation, which included the chief executives of Micron, Qualcomm and Illumina. China's commerce ministry has been tasked with contacting companies.

Chinese executives are not expected to meet think tanks or business groups during the visit. Beijing proposed a US-China CEOs' roundtable, but the White House rejected the idea, according to a person familiar with the matter. The executives are expected to attend a White House state dinner, where Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are also set to be present.

Expectations for the summit remain modest. Washington's main objectives include an agreement on a Board of Trade, additional rare-earth export licences for US companies, and an extension of the trade truce reached last October in South Korea.