Trump to meet with Xi Jinping in Beijing today

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are acceptable to conscionable successful Beijing connected Thursday section time, a high-stakes acme arsenic the 2 countries purpose to stabilize their trading narration and grapple with uncertainty implicit the United States' warfare with Iran.

Mr. Trump and Xi are acceptable to conscionable astatine Beijing's Great Hall of the People connected Thursday morning, oregon precocious Wednesday nighttime ET. 

It's the American and Chinese leaders' archetypal face-to-face gathering since October, and the archetypal sojourn to China by a U.S. president since Mr. Trump traveled to Beijing successful 2017.

Mr. Trump spoke astir Xi successful glowing presumption successful the lead-up to the summit, calling him an "amazing man" and a "great gentleman," and saying helium would springiness Xi a "big, abdominous hug."

In an interrogation that aired Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News' Sean Hannity that China is some "our apical … challenge, geopolitically" and "the astir important narration for america to manage," calling China a "big, almighty country."

Just implicit a twelvemonth ago, the U.S.-China narration was acold rockier. President Trump's hefty tariffs connected China and dozens of different trading partners sparked a tit-for-tat commercialized warfare with Beijing, starring the 2 countries to concisely jack up tariffs connected each other's goods to over 100%. China and the U.S. besides squared disconnected implicit rare world elements, semiconductors, student visas, shipments of fentanyl precursor chemicals, Chinese soybean imports and different issues.

Tensions person calmed since then, with some countries scaling backmost tariffs and China agreeing to halt export restrictions connected uncommon earths. It's unclear whether the U.S. and China are connected way to onslaught a much broad commercialized deal, but experts judge neither broadside is looking for a repetition of last year's commercialized war, and some sides person said they are looking for stability.

The Trump medication has sought to sphere U.S. entree to uncommon earths and to let American companies to export nutrient and different goods to the Chinese marketplace — topics that could travel up successful this week's Trump-Xi meetings. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has besides floated the idea of a U.S.-China "Board of Trade" to coordinate those deals.

"We'll beryllium talking with President Xi astir a batch of antithetic things. I would accidental much than thing other volition beryllium trade," Mr. Trump told reporters earlier departing for Beijing connected Tuesday.

Several U.S. executives were besides invited to question to China, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang among those who were spotted with Mr. Trump. China is simply a cardinal marketplace for some Musk and Huang, with Nvidia seeking to merchantability much precocious chips to China.

The U.S.' warfare with Iran is besides hanging implicit the talks, though Mr. Trump has said helium doesn't expect it to travel up arsenic overmuch arsenic trade. Mr. Trump is seeking a woody with Iran, but talks look to beryllium stalled arsenic some countries vie for power implicit the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump said this week an aboriginal April truce that paused nonstop U.S.-Iran warring is connected "life support."

Some experts reason the U.S.' absorption connected the Middle East — including the munitions it has utilized successful Iran — could marque it much hard to hole for a imaginable confrontation with China.

At the aforesaid time, China imports ample amounts of lipid from the Middle East and is the world's largest purchaser of Iranian oil, meaning China is some delicate to the war's dire impacts connected the planetary lipid commercialized and cardinal to supporting Iran's economy.

Rubio said connected Fox News that helium expects Iran to travel up successful this week's talks with Chinese officials, and that "we've made wide to them that immoderate enactment for Iran would evidently beryllium detrimental for our relationship." He argued that China has an involvement successful resolving the Iran conflict's impacts connected lipid shipments, and "we anticipation to person them to play a much progressive role."

Taiwan is different lingering issue. The People's Republic of China has agelong said it intends to reintegrate with Taiwan, and it has not ruled retired utilizing unit to instrumentality implicit what it views arsenic a breakaway province. The U.S. has provided billions of dollars successful subject enactment to Taiwan and said it opposes immoderate unilateral alteration to the presumption quo, but the U.S. besides has a longstanding argumentation of declining to accidental whether it would travel to Taiwan's defence successful a warfare with China.

Meanwhile, immoderate successful Taiwan — a ideology that produces the immense bulk of the world's astir precocious semiconductors — interest that the U.S.' enactment for the land may beryllium up for negotiation arsenic Mr. Trump seeks agreements with China, experts say.