US CEOs join Trump's China trip to press for market access, regulatory gains

More than a dozen American executives from Tesla, BlackRock, Illumina, Mastercard and other major companies are traveling to Beijing alongside President Donald Trump for a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping beginning May 14, each carrying specific business demands they hope to resolve through the high-level diplomatic meeting, according to The Korea Times.

The delegation — more targeted than Trump's 2017 China visit — reflects years of accumulated frustration among U.S. companies blocked from Chinese markets by regulatory obstacles, investment restrictions and supply chain leverage. The summit gives corporate leaders rare political cover to push demands that have stalled in bureaucratic channels.

Each company in the delegation was required to present a "tangible ask" — a concrete business outcome expected during or after the summit. Tesla is seeking approval for a $2.9 billion solar panel manufacturing equipment purchase from Chinese suppliers, as well as clearance for its Full Self-Driving system in China, according to The Korea Times.

Meta is pushing to resolve a Chinese government order to unwind its more than $2 billion acquisition of Manus AI. The tech giant's inclusion signals that even companies with limited direct China operations see the summit as a moment to intervene in regulatory proceedings.

BlackRock faces a different challenge: a BlackRock-led consortium's $23 billion port acquisition deal — involving facilities near the Panama Canal — has drawn Chinese scrutiny. Illumina, removed from a U.S. export restriction list last year, remains on China's "unreliable entity" list and is seeking a full reversal of that designation. The gene-sequencing company said in a statement the trip represents "an opportunity to strengthen relationships and shape the future of precision medicine," according to the Times.

Mastercard and Visa are pushing for improved joint venture terms to expand their footholds in China's payments market, while Citigroup awaits approval for a wholly owned securities brokerage license. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are also seeking deeper access to China's capital markets. Separately, a dispute between Citibank and Haiyue Energy Group over a $27 million frozen payment tied to U.S. sanctions remains unresolved.

"Besides Boeing and Cargill being linked to purchase agreements, the others are mainly there to deliver demands on critical input supply," said Reva Goujon, a geopolitical strategist at Rhodium Group. "This could help the U.S. administration's messaging that to even be able to discuss a board of investment, China needs to be a reliable investment partner and not weaponise supply."

The Beijing trip is more narrowly scoped than Trump's 2017 China visit, with the delegation focused on resolving specific company-level regulatory and market disputes rather than reaching broad trade agreements.