Trump and Xi’s history
of encounters

The world’s two most powerful
leaders meet in Beijing amid high
hopes for progress on an agenda
spanning Iran, Taiwan,
trade tensions and
the global race to
dominate AI

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May 13-15, 2026, Beijing,
China: Xi hosts bilateral talks,
Temple of Heaven tour and state
banquet attended by CEOs Elon
Musk (Tesla), Tim Cook (Apple)
and Kelly Ortberg (Boeing)

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN TRUMP AND XI

Oct 30, 2025,
Busan, South
Korea: On sidelines of
APEC summit they
announce one-year
pause in spiralling trade
war, with U.S. easing
tariffs, while China
agrees to drop some
export restrictions

Jun 29, 2019,
Osaka, Japan: At
G20 summit they agree
to de-escalate rivalry,
sowing seeds for trade
deal in which U.S. rolls
back some tariffs in
return for China buying
$200bn of U.S. goods
and services*

Dec 1, 2018,
Buenos Aires,
Argentina: On sidelines
of G20 summit, they
agree to begin talks on
intellectual property and
cyber-theft, despite
Trump having just
banned Huawei and
ZTE products

Nov 8-10, 2017,
Beijing, China:
Joined by delegation of
U.S. business leaders,
Trump touts $250bn in
deals, then, despite its
positive tone, weeks
later imposes tariffs on
$250bn of Chinese
goods

Jul 9, 2017,
Hamburg,
Germany: Meeting on
sidelines of G20 summit
one month before
Trump launches review
into alleged theft of U.S.
intellectual property by
China – laying groundwork
for punitive tariffs

Apr 6, 2017, Palm
Beach, U.S.:
First meeting – held at
Trump’s private Mar-a-
Lago resort – is largely
overshadowed by
Trump’s airstrikes on
Syria, governed at that
time by Beijing-backed
Bashar al-Assad

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*Months later, Covid-19 pandemic collapses global trade so China is unable to fulfil its obligations

Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC, CNBC
Picture: Getty Images
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