Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly preparing a large business delegation to accompany him to a U.S. summit on September 24, alongside preparations for a potential visit to India for the BRICS summit on September 12–13, marking significant high-level diplomatic engagements amid evolving international trade and regional discussions.
Business Delegations and Trade Stakes Ahead of the Washington Summit
President Xi Jinping is preparing a large business delegation to accompany him on a visit to Washington for a summit scheduled for September 24. This move is unusual given Beijing’s strained ties with private enterprise following regulatory crackdowns on the technology, education, and property sectors that began in 2020, and considering U.S. skepticism toward Chinese investment.
The business delegation is aimed in part at signaling China’s willingness to support investment and commercial ties with the U.S., while offering the White House potential economic wins ahead of midterm elections, according to sources familiar with discussions. However, the White House stated that it was not tracking a Chinese CEO delegation.
Chinese companies have faced increasing scrutiny of their U.S. investments and operations in recent years. Washington has imposed a 100% tariff on imported Chinese electric vehicles, banned foreign drone, router, and robot imports, forced the divestiture of TikTok’s U.S. operations, and placed major Chinese tech firms on the Entity List and a Pentagon blacklist.
Xi last brought a sizeable business contingent to the U.S. in 2015, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent founder Pony Ma, and executives from Chinese banks and state-owned firms. During that visit, China signed a $38 billion agreement for 300 Boeing aircraft and Xi met U.S. technology executives including Apple’s Tim Cook, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. By contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to China with large delegations of American executives, including visits in 2017 and in May, when he took 18 American executives—including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Elon Musk—to seek greater access to Chinese markets.
Expectations for the September 24 Summit and the Board of Trade
Expectations for the September summit remain modest, with limited prospects for major deliverables. Three separate sources briefed on the matter said the Board of Investment is unlikely to produce significant deliverables due to the challenging U.S. environment for Chinese investment. Beijing and Washington also remain divided over which products should qualify as non-sensitive
under the Board of Trade. About 10 categories of non-sensitive goods are being discussed for inclusion, though this could change closer to the summit.
Reaching an agreement on the Board of Trade is one of the main U.S. priorities for the meeting, alongside securing more rare earth export licenses for U.S. companies. Scott Kennedy, a Chinese business expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that the participation of executives could prove valuable, contrasting the Chinese approach with the organization of the U.S. delegation in May, which he described as assembled at short notice with executives acting more as wallflowers than serious participants.
BRICS Summit Preparations in New Delhi
Ahead of the Washington engagements, Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to visit India for the BRICS summit in New Delhi, which could mark his first visit to the country in seven years. India is scheduled to host the summit on September 12–13, and Chinese officials have been working on hotel bookings and security arrangements in anticipation of his possible attendance.
If confirmed, Xi could be accompanied by a delegation of around 400 officials, significantly larger than the fewer than 200 officials who traveled with him to India in 2019. China has not officially confirmed the travel plans, with its Foreign Ministry stating that Beijing attaches great importance to BRICS cooperation and supports India in hosting the summit, but had no information to provide about Xi’s arrangements.
Bilateral relations between India and China deteriorated sharply following the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, which resulted in a prolonged military standoff along the disputed Himalayan border. However, a disengagement agreement reached in October 2024 helped ease tensions, and diplomatic engagement has gradually resumed, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China last year, the resumption of direct commercial flights, and eased visa restrictions.
