Trump’s trillion-dollar business delegation arrives in China, eager for deals

Advertisement2026 Xi-Trump summitEconomyChina EconomyTrump’s trillion-dollar business delegation arrives in China, eager for deals

The 17 American business executives accompanying US president are the wealthiest such delegation to visit the country

2-MIN READ2-MIN8 Listen

Xinyi Wuin BeijingPublished: 9:57am, 14 May 2026Updated: 12:26pm, 14 May 2026

The business executives accompanying US President Donald Trump on his state visit to Beijing this week are the wealthiest such delegation to visit China – holding a combined personal net worth of over US$1 trillion – an indication of continued interest in the country’s lucrative market despite strained bilateral ties.

With Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s last-minute addition to the delegation, 17 executives from the technology, finance, aerospace and semiconductor sectors have joined Trump, who landed in Beijing on Wednesday evening.Advertisement

The delegation’s collective wealth exceeds US$1.07 trillion, according to data from Forbes and United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by Quiver Quantitative, and each member holds a significant commercial stake in the bilateral relationship.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk leads the group with a personal net worth of US$827 billion, representing over 77 per cent of the delegation’s total wealth.

Musk was seeking a licence to sell robotaxis in China and also wanted to increase sales of his artificial intelligence robots in the country, said Arthur Kroeber, head of research at Gavekal Dragonomics, in a note issued on Tuesday.

Huang ranks second, with a personal net worth of US$194 billion. His firm, a global leader in the design of the computer chips that power AI models, has had to navigate US export restrictions on the hi-tech products that can be sold in the enormous Chinese market.

Advertisement

While Washington permits the sale of Nvidia’s H200 graphics processing units in China – subject to a 25 per cent surcharge paid to the US Treasury – it has banned the sale of the company’s more advanced models to Chinese customers.

Select VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x