BEIJING — With Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States a week away, Chinese authorities are considering including BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu in the business delegation, according to reports.
Bloomberg reported on the 16th, citing multiple sources, that senior officials including Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party, are discussing adding Wang to the entourage. The sources said the list has not been finalized and could change at the last minute.
BYD has a strained relationship with the United States. A 100% tariff has kept the company from selling a single passenger car in the U.S. market, and in June this year it was placed on a Defense Department blacklist over suspected ties to the Chinese military. That is why analysts say Washington could view the inclusion of BYD founder Wang in the delegation as considerably provocative.
Still, some observers say the visit could open the way for wider Chinese electric-vehicle investment in the United States, given that President Donald Trump recently said he does not oppose Chinese automakers building cars on U.S. soil. "It is appropriate for BYD to be included in President Xi's business delegation to the United States," said Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. "If the U.S. allows it, China would want to invest in the electric-vehicle sector."
On the U.S. side, Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are expected to attend the state dinner hosted by Trump at the White House, Bloomberg reported. Trump has said Xi and his wife will visit the United States on the 24th for the state dinner. The trip is a reciprocal visit following the Beijing summit in May.
