Dear Focus Reader,

Preparations continue for next week's summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 14-15, where both sides are expected to focus on stabilizing an increasingly strained U.S.-China relationship amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.

U.S. officials have signaled Iran will be a central focus of the talks, with the conflict expected to shape the summit's agenda and may limit progress on tariffs, rare earth exports, and broader trade tensions.

Ahead of the meetings, a bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation traveled to Beijing this week, calling for stability and peaceful cooperation between the world's two largest economies. Senator Steve Daines said the United States wants to "de-escalate, not decouple," while Chinese Premier Li Qiang emphasized the importance of a stable and predictable economic relationship between the two countries. Chinese officials also reiterated that Taiwan remains the most sensitive issue in bilateral relations and urged Washington to respect China's core interests.

Limited agreements in areas such as agriculture and aviation may also emerge, though the overall focus of the Summit appears to be on managing rivalry rather than resetting relations.

Additionally, in Washington, discourse continues over the scale and purpose of U.S. business participation in the trip, reflecting broader tensions between commercial engagement and national security concerns. Executives from major firms, including Nvidia, Boeing, Apple, Exxon, amongst others, have been invited to attend, though the delegation may be smaller than in previous visits.

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