President Xi Jinping is preparing a large business delegation to accompany him on his visit to Washington, two sources said, an unusual move given US scepticism towards Chinese investment and Beijing’s strained ties with private enterprise.
Xi rarely travels abroad with corporate executives, many of whom fell out of favour after Beijing’s regulatory crackdowns on the technology, education and property sectors that began in 2020.
The planned business delegation for the September 24 summit has not been previously reported.
Reuters could not determine which executives would join the delegation.
The move is aimed in part at signalling China’s willingness to support investment and commercial ties with the US, while offering the White House some potential economic wins ahead of midterm elections, one of the sources familiar with discussions said.
Chinese companies have faced increasing scrutiny of their US investments and business operations in recent years.
Washington has imposed a 100 per cent tariff on imported Chinese EVs, banned foreign drone, router and robot imports, and forced the divestiture of TikTok’s US operations. It also placed major Chinese tech firms on the Entity List of firms or organisations deemed a threat to national security and on a Pentagon blacklist.
