Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Washington next Thursday (September 24) for a closely watched meeting with US President Donald Trump. Media reports indicate that Beijing is considering arranging for Chinese business representatives to join the trip, including the founder of electric vehicle giant BYD, Wang Chuanfu. There are also reports that executives from Xiaomi and Zhongji Innolight may join the delegation.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday (the 17th), citing sources familiar with the matter, that Beijing is still finalizing the list of business representatives, and the final lineup could change at the last minute. If Wang Chuanfu does join the trip, BYD would become one of the Chinese companies in the spotlight during Xi’s visit to the US.
BYD’s prominence is tied to current US market restrictions on Chinese electric vehicles. The US imposes tariffs of over 100% on Chinese-made EVs, and in June the US Department of Defense added BYD to its blacklist of companies linked to the Chinese military. If Beijing arranges for a Chinese automaker executive to accompany the trip, it could involve not only bilateral trade issues but also questions about Chinese carmakers entering the US market, investing in the US, and manufacturing locally.
Bloomberg therefore analyzed that if Wang Chuanfu ultimately makes the trip, it could be seen by the US side as a provocative arrangement, though the delegation list has not yet been finalized.
That said, there have been new signals recently regarding the US stance on Chinese automakers building plants in the US. In a September 11 interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Trump shared his views on Chinese automakers setting up factories in the US. He said he could accept Chinese automakers building plants in the US and hiring American workers, but he does not want Chinese-made cars entering the US market via Mexico.
In fact, this is not the first time business representatives have accompanied a national leader on an overseas visit. When Xi visited the US in 2015, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent Chairman Pony Ma, as well as executives of Chinese state-owned enterprises and financial institutions also joined the trip. This time, as the US and China continue to work through trade and investment issues, the lineup of the business delegation has become a key point of focus ahead of the “Trump-Xi meeting.”
Meanwhile, there are still differing voices in the American business community about Chinese automakers entering the US market. US automakers have previously urged the government to maintain restrictions on Chinese cars, and Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin has also publicly opposed easing restrictions on Chinese vehicles entering the US market.
