NEW DELHI — Elon Musk confirmed Wednesday that he is traveling to Beijing aboard Air Force One with U.S. President Donald Trump and a group of senior American business leaders for a high-profile summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Musk disclosed his participation in a post on X, writing, “On my way to Beijing in Air Force One.”
The delegation includes more than a dozen top U.S. corporate executives, with Musk and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang among the most prominent figures. The trip is being closely watched as a major diplomatic and economic outreach effort between the world’s two largest economies.
The visit comes amid persistent tensions over trade, technology and market access. For U.S. technology and industrial companies, China remains a key market, even as Washington and Beijing continue to clash over tariffs, export controls and national security concerns.
Trump’s visit is particularly significant because it marks the first trip by a sitting U.S. president to China in nearly a decade. He is expected to seek progress on trade and economic cooperation while also looking to address political and economic pressures at home.
The summit carries particular importance for Nvidia, which has faced obstacles in securing approval to sell its advanced H200 artificial intelligence chips in China. The company has been caught in the middle of tightening U.S. export restrictions and rising scrutiny of semiconductor sales to China.
Before Trump’s arrival in Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly met Chinese officials in South Korea to discuss ways to maintain stability in a fragile trade agreement reached between Washington and Beijing last year.
The makeup of the business delegation reportedly changed several times before the trip. Earlier proposed lists included Musk and Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, with additional corporate leaders later added to the final group.
Trump praised the executives traveling with him in a Truth Social post ahead of the visit.
“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic,” Trump wrote, signaling his hopes for expanded market access and deeper economic engagement with China. (Source: IANS)
