President Trump and like two dozen of the business world’s most powerful people visited Beijing to meet with President Xi this week for a two-day summit that produced exactly the kind of result these meetings usually produce: modest commercial wins, a new bureaucratic framework, and a whole lot of theater. The headline outcome was the creation of a Board of Trade and a Board of Investment. These are apparently standing channels meant to manage bilateral purchases, reduce trade flare-ups, and keep every dispute from needing to be settled leader-to-leader.
The room mattered almost as much as the communique. Trump showed up with a delegation of American corporate power that included Tim Cook, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzman, Kelly Ortberg, Brian Sikes, Jane Fraser, David Solomon, Larry Culp, Elon Musk, and the CEOs or senior leaders of Mastercard, Visa, Qualcomm, Micron, Meta, Illumina, Coherent, and others. Talk about putting the cap table of global capitalism on Air Force One. I’m actually surprised they deemed it safe for so many to travel together on the same plane.
The tangible developments are still TBD. Some will play out over days, some over months, and some may never become more than summit-stage promises. But a few are worth watching: China’s commitment to buy 200 Boeing jets, with Trump suggesting the order could grow materially if things go well; progress around expanded U.S. farm product sales, including soybeans and beef; and potential energy deals that would pull more Chinese demand toward American supply.
The optics are choose-your-own-adventure. One read is that the United States walked into Beijing with the leaders and key executives of the most important firms in the world standing behind it. A show of force that reminded China what access to American capital, technology, aviation, finance, payments, and consumer brands still means. The other read is less flattering: everyone and their brother from the American side coming to kiss the ring of a brutal dictator to keep the peace. During the event, Trump appeared to take a sip of champagne, which would be an astonishing symbolic break from a lifelong personal rule against alcohol shaped by his brother Fred’s alcoholism. Diplomacy is full of little dominance tests. In 1971, when Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia lit a Cuban cigar in Nixon’s White House, despite the no-smoking rule, was one of them. Nixon objected, Tito kept smoking, and the silence said plenty. Maybe this was nothing. Or maybe Beijing understands theater better than we do.