On May 14, in the Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi Jinping met with more than a dozen American top executives whom Donald Trump brought with him on the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to China in nearly a decade. Among those present were Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX), Tim Cook (Apple), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia). For each of them, China is not an abstraction: it represents markets for sales, supply chains, and in Nvidia's case, prohibited chip sales.

What Xi said — and what he didn't

According to state television CCTV, Xi said that American companies are "deeply involved in China's reforms and opening-up policy" and that "China's doors to the outside world will only open wider." Trump, for his part, presented the delegation of businessmen to Xi as people who came to "show respect" and build business.

"Yesterday, our economic and trade teams achieved generally balanced and positive results. Trade wars have no winners."

Xi Jinping, according to Xinhua

However, no specific market access expansion was announced. The White House merely noted that the parties "discussed ways to expand access for American business" — phrasing that leaves room for any outcome.

Why CEOs went — and what's at stake

The context of the meeting is more important than the rhetoric. In April 2025, Beijing raised tariffs on American goods to 125% — in response to American 145% tariffs. Boeing cannot deliver aircraft to Chinese airlines. Apple paid $600 billion in investment commitments to the U.S. to obtain customs exemptions for its products. Nvidia is seeking ways to sell advanced chips to a market where this is legally blocked.

• Tesla (Musk): China is a key market for manufacturing and sales; any warming reduces regulatory pressure on the Shanghai plant.
• Apple (Cook): The manufacturing supply chain is critically dependent on Chinese contractors despite declared diversification.
• Nvidia (Huang): American restrictions on H20 chip exports to China have already taken effect — every high-level conversation potentially affects the licensing regime.

After the meeting, Huang and Musk briefly told journalists that the talks went well. Musk said that "many good things" were achieved — without specifying which ones.

Openness without mechanism

Analysts describe the Beijing summit not as the conclusion of negotiations, but as the beginning of structured bargaining. A tariff truce has been fixed, regular dialogue channels have been restored — but tariffs have not disappeared, and market access remains the subject of future rounds. Xi is invited to reciprocate with a visit to the United States; the next points of contact are APEC and G20.

If Beijing does not announce specific sectoral concessions by the fall summits — reduction of aviation tariffs, easing restrictions for fintech or semiconductors — the rhetoric about "open doors" will remain an instrument of pressure on Washington, not a real change in conditions for business.