Trump brings U.S. CEOs to China as firms seek market access, regulatory relief

U.S. President Donald Trump is visiting China in the week of May 14, 2026, with at least 17 senior U.S. business leaders, pressing President Xi Jinping to further open Chinese markets amid tensions over tariffs, technology controls and regulation. Executives include leaders from Apple (AAPL), BlackRock (BLK), Blackstone (BX), Boeing (BA), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Mastercard (MA), Visa (V), Micron (MU), Nvidia (NVDA), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Tesla (TSLA). Key priorities include tariff relief, aircraft orders, payment licenses, AI data center access, chip export rules, electric vehicles and financial-sector stability. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined the delegation at the last minute, helping lift Nvidia shares on May 13, 2026. The company remains central to U.S.-China AI restrictions and said in February 2026 it had not recognized any China revenue despite some H200 export approvals. Qualcomm gets about 45% of revenue from China, while Tesla is seeking broader approval for self-driving software, potentially as soon as the third quarter of 2026.