The US president is greeted with elaborate ceremony as he arrives in Beijing for his first trip to China since 2017
3-MIN READ3-MINJosephine MaandOrange WangPublished: 11:00pm, 13 May 2026US President Donald Trump arrived in China – flanked by his top aides and American tech leaders – on Wednesday night as Beijing rolled out a lavish welcome ceremony at the airport.
He was received by Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng at Beijing Capital International Airport.
Trump’s entourage includes Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia and a last-minute addition to the trip, as well as US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and Tim Cook of Apple.AdvertisementTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who wrapped up the latest trade talks with China in Seoul, South Korea, will join the president in Beijing.
Unlike his first visit to Beijing, the US leader was not joined by first lady Melania Trump. Instead, he was accompanied by his son Eric Trump and daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
