“I’m going to go see president Xi in two weeks. I look forward to that,” Trump said Monday during a White House event. “Actually, it’ll be a very important trip.”
The two leaders are slated to meet on May 14-15 in Beijing as they seek to navigate challenges on trade and other fronts, including self-ruled Taiwan and the war in Iran.
US and Chinese officials have been preparing for the summit for months, including discussions over creating a new bilateral mechanism to help manage economic ties.
China still hasn’t confirmed dates of the summit, as is customary in Beijing where details of Xi’s schedule are closely held until days before an event.
The Middle East conflict has already delayed the meeting once, sparking anxiety in financial markets that another postponement would add uncertainty to an already complicated relationship.
US-China ties largely stabilised after the two leaders sealed a one-year trade truce in South Korea, with Trump and Xi expected to meet four times this year to help keep that deal in place.
The Iran war has brought fresh strains. The nine-week conflict has choked off the flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz, leaving crude importers such as China working to prevent domestic shortages.
US efforts to ramp up pressure on Tehran to bring an end to the war have led to sanctions on refiners in China that process Iranian oil.
China has now ordered companies not to abide by US sanctions on private refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade, an unprecedented act of defiance that will test the US sanctions system.
A White House official warned that any company “considering skirting US sanctions should think twice,” when asked for comment or whether the US would take action.
Trump has also questioned if Beijing is helping Iran in the war. He has said previously that the US Navy had intercepted a “gift” bound for Iran, without providing more details.
The US has also been pressuring China along with other economies that rely on oil imports to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Beijing as well as US allies have balked at those calls. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Monday urged China to join an American operation to escort ships through the strait.
“Let’s see them step up with some diplomacy and get the Iranians to open the strait,” Bessent said on Fox News.