By Lisa Visentin
Publication Date: 2026-05-13 09:43:00
Beijing: US President Donald Trump has landed in Beijing for his highly anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with the Iran war, trade and artificial intelligence the main talking points of their high-stakes meeting.
Trump’s state visit to China – the first by a US president in nearly a decade – is laden with the baggage of the Iran war, which has sparked a global energy crisis and created new tensions in talks because of Beijing’s close diplomatic ties with Tehran, the largest buyer of its oil.
Both Trump and Xi are trying to stabilize the fragile trade peace they struck in South Korea in October through two days of talks in the Grand Hall, an evening banquet and visits to the Temple of Heaven and Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership complex.
Many analysts believe that the Middle East conflict has further shifted influence in China’s favor…
