U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for his highly anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a restless moment for a world worried about war, trade and artificial intelligence.
The visit occurs at a delicate moment for Trump’s presidency, as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American food and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”
Here’s the latest:
Trump arrives in Beijing ahead of meetings with Xi
Trump has touched down in Beijing for his summit with Xi Jinping.
Trump has no public events beyond his arrival on Wednesday’s schedule, but is set to meet with Xi a series of times on Thursday and Friday.
U.S. and China have “candid” exchanges in South Korea’s trade talks, CCTV says
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.
The officials led the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies in South Korea, hours before Trump’s arrival in Beijing.
CCTV said they were guided by the important consensus reached by the heads of state of both countries, and upheld the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.
Nvidia CEO is late-announced addition to Trump’s trip
The White House said Huang’s schedule hadn’t permitted his coming, but then changed, clearing the way for him to make the trip.
The last-minute addition inspired online commentary and memes on the Chinese internet.
Those including on Xiaohongshu and Weibo, where people shared manipulated images of Huang clinging to Air Force One with his bare hands.
Musk, Cook and other prominent US executives invited to join Trump on trip to China
These prominent U.S. executives from Big Tech to agriculture have been invited to join Trump on his trip to China, according to a White House official:
Soaring inflation and plummeting economy test Iran’s ability to withstand war and US blockade
Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world’s energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic’s own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington’s demands.
Iranians have been hit by spiraling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government’s monthslong shutdown of the internet.
The economic cost of the war and the U.S. naval blockade “has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University.
But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said.
The International Monetary Fund has predicted the Iranian economy will shrink by about 6 percentage points in the next year.
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