More than a dozen US business leaders accompany Trump to China

The White House confirmed that more than a dozen US business leaders would accompany US President Donald Trump on his visit to China from May 13 to 15.

The delegation includes executives from the technology, finance, aviation and agriculture sectors. The technology sector lineup is particularly striking. Technology leaders on the trip include Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and Coherent CEO Jim Anderson.

Reuters, AP and CBS reported that the White House initially released the delegation list on May 11. On May 13, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was added to the trip at the last minute after boarding Air Force One during a stop in Alaska. Trump later confirmed Huang's participation in a Truth Social post.

The visit is notable because it brings together an unusually large group of American technology executives in Beijing as part of a presidential delegation, highlighting the growing importance of technology and AI issues between China and US.

The presence of these tech giants is significant for several reasons.

Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory remains the heart of the company's global production capacity. Data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, the Shanghai facility delivered 213,000 vehicles, a 23.5% increase year on year, accounting for nearly 60% of Tesla's total global deliveries. During his previous visits to China, Musk has publicly described himself as a "big fan of China."

For Apple, according to its fiscal year 2026 second-quarter report, Greater China revenue reached $20.497 billion, a sharp 28% increase year on year, representing 18.4% of the company's total revenue. 

Cook has previously emphasized that without its Chinese partners and supply chain, Apple could not have achieved the success it enjoys today.

For Qualcomm, China remains a key market for Qualcomm's chip sales and patent licensing business, while the company is also seeking to expand its presence in automotive semiconductors and Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT). 

Micron Technology, facing a complex compliance environment due to ongoing US semiconductor export controls, is seeking ways to resume and expand shipments to China in compliance with regulatory requirements, particularly to support data center and AI computing storage infrastructure.

Columbia University researcher Julian Gewirtz, in an earlier analysis, noted that a US president leading a large group of top-tier CEOs to China would be a highly notable event in itself, given that the core US logic over the past decade has been economic competition.

He added that President Trump sees things differently – his focus is on selling more American products to China.

Whether this unprecedented visit will lead to breakthroughs on key issues such as chip export controls and market access will be closely watched around the world.