Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook are among a number of powerful CEOs and executives set to join US president Donald Trump on his official trip to China.
Trump is meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing this week for a critical meeting between the two nations during a time of rising global instability.
Musk a billionaire and the world’s richest person, is the former leader of the US’ Department of Government Efficiency. Musk left the role after a falling out with Trump last year. They appear to have now reconciled.
US officials have said Trump wants to discuss the creation of a board of investment and a board of trade with China during the visit.
The White House distributed a list of the business leaders who are scheduled to join Trump in China. Alongside Musk and Cook, it includes:
- Larry Fink, BlackRock
- Dina Powell McCormick, Meta
- Kelly Ortberg, Boeing
- Ryan McInerney, Visa
- Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone
- Brian Sikes, Cargill
- Jane Fraser, Citi
- Jim Anderson, Coherent
- Henry Lawrence Culp, GE Aerospace
- David Solomon, Goldman Sachs
- Jacob Thaysen, Illumina
- Michael Miebach, Mastercard
- Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron
A notable absence on the list is Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, who reportedly wasn’t invited.
The visit to China comes amid the US and Israel’s war with Iran and in the wake of Trump’s trade war with China that saw tariffs on many goods reach over 100 per cent last year. A one-year truce was eventually agreed on during a meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping last October.
It is expected some of the business leaders present with Trump will endeavor to make deals with Chinese corporations.
Trump told reportes at the White House he has a “great relationship” with President Xi and the US makes “a lot of money” with China.
“We’re doing a lot of business, but it’s smart business. We used to be taken advantage of for years with our previous presidents. And now we’re doing great with China. We make a lot of money with China.”