Trump heads to Beijing with delegation of US business leaders, hopes China will 'open up'

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]Back to the top of the bulletin if you write cut now to talk a lot more about Donald Trump's visit to China this week.

[00:00:05]He's on the plane as we speak. A large delegation of course of business leaders and our business editor Shawn Peligrad is here to analyze it all for us, Shawn.

[00:00:13]Jared, the US president heading to China for the first time since 2017 with high hopes of getting big headline business deals for American companies.

[00:00:23]Companies that have significant business in the People's Republic of China like tech giant Apple represented by their CEO Tim Cook or Boeing and their CEO Kelly Ortberg who are in the midst of a turnaround after years of crisis and there was also a last minute addition.

[00:00:40]You can see at the end of the last person on that graphic there, the world's most valuable company Nvidia boarded the flight midway during a stopover in Alaska. Its CEO Jensen Huang has managed to convince the Trump administration to allow it to export some of its advanced AI chips to Beijing. This was in December in spite of how sensitive that technology is, Trump himself announced the names of the major executives following him to China making it clear that his priority during this visit is business. In a Truth Social post he said, "I will be asking President Xi, a leader of extraordinary distinction, to quote open up China so that these brilliant people can work their magic and help bring the People's Republic to an even higher level." Yeah, as you put it that opening up China has been the dream of US business for decades, hasn't it? And it's that desire which actually prompted Trump to start the trade war against China in his first term. The bone of contention for US businesses in China was that what was that was was what they claimed to be treated unfairly compared to domestic companies.

[00:01:47]So So some examples of this, the requirement to have a local partner when setting up shop in China and of having to transfer any technology expertise to that local partner. And then there's the uncertain legal environment for foreign businesses. US companies have been targeted with legal proceedings generally when the relationship with Washington has soured. So, they've been used as diplomatic leverage. And there's China's industrial policy which heavily subsidizes its domestic sectors in order to gain a competitive edge internationally. Those issues have been flagged by the business community for years. The US Chamber of Commerce in a report issued two days ago reiterated those concerns and went further talking about quote a new phase of global impact characterized by accelerating trade dominance, deepening foreign dependencies on Chinese supply chains, and the rapid global expansion of Chinese firms. They said the window to effectively address these concerns is narrowing. So, realistically then Sean, I mean what can either side really achieve with this visit on trade?

[00:02:48]There will be big headline contracts and deals for US companies like we do like we see with every state visit which will be lauded as a win by Trump. But in terms of actual changes in policy, the hope is to extend the trade truce that was found back in October 2025. A one in which Beijing suspended its export controls on rare earth minerals which they have a strangle hold on and are crucial for a number of highly sensitive sectors and where Beijing also promised to purchase more US agricultural goods like soybeans. In exchange, the US dropped part of the tariffs it had imposed on China. be related to the fentanyl crisis and paused planned increases of other tariffs. Then further down the line in December, the US as I mentioned allowed for the export of some advanced AI chips produced by Nvidia.

[00:03:37]Keeping the status quo would be hugely beneficial for both countries right now.

[00:03:42]They don't need another trade war escalation amid the economic turmoil caused caused by the war in Iran and as the Chinese economy struggles with persistently low consumer demand. Well, you mentioned it there, Shawn. Yena mentioned it earlier because she's been out reporting on it for us. The humble soybean is also at the heart of a trade dispute between the US and China.

[00:04:03]>> Well, for decades, the US was China's preferred source of soy, buying billions of dollars worth in 2024. But when Washington launched a second trade war on China, Beijing stopped buying US soy altogether. And since October's truce, China has started to buy the bean again, but our correspondent, China Yena Lee, has this report in which she wonders, "How long will this relationship last?"

[00:04:28]From tofu to soy sauce, in China, soybeans have been a staple for centuries.

[00:04:33]When rapid economic growth drove up demand for meat and the soy-based animal feed, domestic supply couldn't keep up.

[00:04:41]Today, 90% of soy in China is imported.

[00:04:46]American farmers were quick to spot the opportunity. The US Soybean Export Council has been present in Beijing since 1982. It's current CEO travels frequently to China to engage with livestock feed producers. A trickier task since the vegetable found itself caught in the crossfire of a trade war.

[00:05:03]That was a bad situation for our US soybean farmers. Prices went down and uh and our farmers were very disappointed.

[00:05:11]He hopes soybeans will be a priority when Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet this week.

[00:05:17]I hope they can talk about getting the relationship in a smooth way that we don't use agricultural trade as a as a weapon, if you will.

[00:05:26]Soy is a critical commodity. Beijing wants to wean itself from foreign beans.

[00:05:31]The agriculture ministry wants to cut its proportion in livestock feed from 18% in 2017 down to 10% by 2030.

[00:05:43]This is the room for adult flies.

[00:05:47]Come, take a look.

[00:05:50]One alternative to soy is insect protein. Wang Chulin works for a company that breeds black soldier flies.

[00:06:00]This is where we pour the dried insects in. They're then lifted up through this device and this machine can convert the dried flies into powder and oil.

[00:06:14]This insect eats organic waste and is in turn transformed into high protein feed for animals. They're easy to breed and resistant to warm climates.

[00:06:24]So, black soldier fly breeding and processing is good for the environment.

[00:06:29]It can also solve protein supply problems.

[00:06:34]For now, these Chinese born and bred flies are being fed to crabs and shrimp as poultry farmers still prefer cheaper soy.

[00:06:42]Wang's ambition though is not only to provide local farmers with the choice of home-grown protein, but to export well beyond China's borders.

[00:06:54]Chaow, thank you very much. Our Panorama reporting there with a link to our top story and