Kali Hayes,Technology journalistAnd
Archie Mitchell,Economic journalist
US President Donald Trump is expected to invite numerous business and technology leaders on his trip to China this week.
Among those joining the president on his official trip to Beijing are Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, and other executives from Meta, Visa, JP Morgan, Boeing, Cargill and more.
A total of 17 US leaders will join Trump on the trip, a White House official with knowledge of the plans told the BBC.
The journey is seen as important for the United States, as Trump will meet with President Xi Jinping at a time of growing economic and technological animosity between the two countries.
In addition to Musk, Cook and Fink, the full list of leaders who will join Trump in the official US delegation to China is as follows:
- Dina Powell McCormick, President and Vice President of Meta
- Kelly Ortberg, Chairman and CEO of Boeing
- Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa
- Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone
- Brian Sikes, CEO and President of Cargill
- Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi
- Jim Anderson, Managing Director of Coherent
- Henry Lawrence Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace
- David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs
- Jacob Thaysen, CEO of Illumina
- Michael Miebach, president of Mastercard
Missing from the list is Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, whose company is at the heart of the US-China rivalry over computer chips and artificial intelligence (AI).
The BBC has contacted Nvidia for comment. Last week, Huang told business news channel CNBC that it would be a “privilege” to represent the United States in China if he were invited on the trip.
It is also worth noting that Sanjay Mehrotra, the CEO of Micron Technology, will be part of Trump’s delegation.
Its presence is interesting as Beijing restricted the use of some Micron chips in critical infrastructure in 2023 over national security concerns – a move the company says has negatively impacted its business in China.
Semiconductors remain central to the U.S.-China economic relationship, despite ongoing tensions over the technology and export controls.
Chuck Robbins, CEO and president of Cisco, had been invited to participate in the trip “but is unable to do so due to his income,” according to a company spokeswoman.
Together, the leaders represent a broad range of U.S. business interests, from social media and consumer hardware to computer chips and commercial manufacturing.
A spokeswoman for Illumina, a California-based biotechnology company, said Thaysen “is honored to be part of the delegation” and that the company hopes the trip will be “an opportunity to strengthen relationships and shape the future of precision medicine.”
Representatives for the other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s visit to China will be the first by a US president in nearly a decade and will mark a key test for the fragile trade truce between the two countries, following a tit for tat trade war which saw them impose tariffs that sometimes exceeded 100%.
The tariffs were suspended in October 2025 after Trump’s last meeting with Xi, which took place in South Korea.
One of the priorities of the next meeting will be that of the United States and Israel. war in Iranwhich has already delayed the meeting between Trump and Xi.
Trump is expected to push China, which depends on Iran for its cheap oil, to help facilitate a deal between Tehran and Washington to end the war.
China also wants the conflict to end. This has limited the country’s oil supply, affecting the purchasing power of other countries around the world that import Chinese products.
But China’s vast oil reserves and diverse energy supply have I helped him so far better than many neighbors the consequences of the war.