U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on May 14, 2026.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
As the world focuses on the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, analysts are suggesting it could be a reset in relations between the world’s two top economies.
The two leaders are expected to discuss a number of thorny issues against the backdrop of the Iran war, including China’s purchases of U.S. agricultural and industrial products, tariffs, Taiwan, and rare earths.
Justin Feng, Asia economist at HSBC, said the summit could be a “defining test” for the world’s G2 power dynamics after nine turbulent years, noting that the United States, China and the European Union now account for 60% of global GDP.
This summit is a build-up to the meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping in South Korea late last year, which led to a thaw in the trade war between the two countries.President Trump referred to the two countries as the G2, and expectations are high that the ceasefire will be extended. “It makes no sense for the two countries to engage in a trade war or retaliate,” said James Zimmerman, chairman of AmCham China.
Ahead of the visit, the Trump administration announced plans to seek increased Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans, Boeing aircraft and other products, while Beijing made clear that Taiwan would be a top topic for the talks.
Graham Allison, a Harvard professor and former assistant secretary of defense, told CNBC’s “The China Connection” on Thursday that “the key word is stabilization. I think the ceasefire that the two countries have negotiated…will become a formal agreement.”
Xi referred to the idea that tensions between rising and dominant powers often lead to war, and asked whether the United States and China could overcome the “Thucydides Trap,” a phrase popularized by Allison, who is also the author of “The Fate of War: Can America and China Escape the Thucydides Trap?”
The presence of more than a dozen executives from several major US companies in President Trump’s inner circle has raised hopes for a more friendly business environment. President Trump’s visit will include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg.
“President Trump loves making headlines, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he announced that China would buy an additional $1 trillion in American goods,” Allison said, including “bulk purchases” of Boeing planes, soybeans, beef, and more advanced semiconductors that Beijing is interested in.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also joined the trip to China in what appears to be a last-minute addition, with the focus on artificial intelligence and technology.
The U.S. government on Thursday authorized about 10 Chinese companies to buy Nvidia’s second most powerful AI chip, the H200, but the company’s cutting-edge chip still faces strict U.S. regulations, Reuters reported.
“It gives us confidence and optimism that our two countries (the United States and China) can continue to dialogue to address some of the challenges in our bilateral relationship,” Zimmerman said. “We are generally optimistic that both sides will have good conversations… (and) set a roadmap going forward for continued engagement and dialogue throughout the year.”
Against a backdrop of global conflicts and trade-related tensions, analysts have suggested that the meeting between President Trump and Mr. Xi will provide momentum for an increasingly multipolar world.
“The world is clearly transitioning from the post-Cold War unipolar era to a more unstable and conflict-prone multipolar system,” Feng said.
Echoing this view, Dong Chen, chief investment officer at Bank J. Safra Sarasin, suggested that the G2 framework would see China and the United States as “equal partners at the table, rather than one dominating the other.”
According to an official English statement from the Chinese government, on the first day of the summit meeting, the United States and China agreed to work toward building a “strategically stable and constructive Sino-U.S. relationship” that will serve as a guiding framework for the next three years and beyond, and to build further cooperation.
Iran war concerns
The summit came as the United States is embroiled in a war with Tehran and trying to pressure Beijing to help end the conflict, but analysts say Beijing’s talks are unlikely to lead to a breakthrough.
Beijing has repeatedly played the role of global mediator, but has avoided committing to concrete efforts to end the war.
“From the point of view of a rational Chinese state actor, benign neglect or distraction may seem like a pretty good option because we’re often stuck in another quagmire,” Allison said, comparing Beijing’s inaction in Russia’s war with Ukraine. “President Xi is smiling, but he’s not doing much to[end the war].”
President Trump has expressed dissatisfaction with Tehran’s proposal to scale back its nuclear program as part of a peace deal, as fighting continues in the region and threatens the fragile cease-fire agreement currently in place.
Gautam Bambawale, a former Indian ambassador to China, said, “China will agree to help as much as possible. (But) the United States needs to recognize that there is only so much China can do, and no more.” He does not expect the Beijing summit to resolve the situation.
