Air Force One landed in Beijing, China, at approximately 7:51 a.m. ET (Wednesday morning U.S. time and Thursday morning in China) at Beijing Capital International Airport.
The plane taxied for about eight minutes before the doors opened for the official red-carpet arrival.
(Top official quits minutes before Trump lands in China)
President Donald Trump deplaned at 8:08 a.m. ET and was greeted by Chinese Vice President H.E. Han Zheng, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. H.E. Xie Feng, and Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Ma Zhaoxu.
Following Trump were his son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara Trump, along with a number of other passengers.
(Trump stuns with “life support” announcement)
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was also with Trump and his team on the trip.
The welcoming ceremony featured approximately 300 Chinese youth, a military honor guard, and a military band. “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.
Trump has no additional public events scheduled Wednesday beyond his arrival in Beijing, but he is expected to meet multiple times with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
The two leaders are scheduled to hold bilateral talks and attend a formal state banquet on Thursday.
Check it out below:
Among the issues expected to top the agenda is the possible creation of a U.S.-China trade board aimed at managing disputes between the two countries.
Supporters of the idea argue such a framework could help stabilize the global economy and ease geopolitical tensions.
During the welcoming ceremony, roughly 300 children waved miniature American and Chinese flags in coordinated formations as part of the event, Fox News reported.
Earlier, Trump criticized what he called “fake news,” suggesting that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is indeed traveling with him to China on Air Force One.
His statement counters a report that claimed Huang had not been invited to join the high-profile business delegation.
He also said he would make his first request to Chinese President Xi Jinping to open up his country to U.S. businesses.
Trump wrote:
CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China. In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS! It is an Honor to have Jensen, Elon, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Brian Sikes (Cargill), Jane Fraser (Citi), Larry Culp (GE Aerospace), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and many others journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to “open up” China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level! In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!
“Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals,” a Nvidia spokesman additionally confirmed to Fox Business.
Huang’s role is especially important since Nvidia is central to the global AI race, navigating U.S. export controls while meeting Chinese demand for advanced semiconductors.
Although trade and the global economy may be higher priorities for Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is eager to stay on the agenda as well.
Zelenskyy expressed on Wednesday his hope that Trump will discuss ending the war in Ukraine during his visit to China.
