Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his son, and Zhu Xiaotong, Senior Vice President of Tesla Automotive, walk on in the Great Hall of the People as Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with American CEOs, in Beijing, China, May 14, 2026. Photo: VCG

Top US business leaders from Silicon Valley and Wall Street, joining US President Donald Trump on his China trip, reaffirmed the vital role of the Chinese market, as a key leaders' meeting in Beijing on Thursday brought renewed focus to deepening bilateral economic ties.

Besides meeting with President Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday also met with US entrepreneurs accompanying President Trump on his visit to China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi said that US companies are deeply involved in China's reform and opening up, and both sides have benefited from this. Noting that China's door will only open wider, the Chinese leader said China welcomes the US to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation with China, and expressed the belief that US companies will enjoy even broader prospects in China, according to Xinhua. 

Trump said that he had brought with him outstanding representatives from the US business community, all of whom respect and value China, and that he encourages them to expand cooperation with China, the report said.

The US entrepreneurs said that they attach great importance to the Chinese market, and hope to deepen their business operations in China and strengthen cooperation with China, Xinhua reported. 

According to Xinhua, senior executives from more than 10 well-known US companies are visiting China as part of the delegation, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

The collective visit by these corporate leaders underscores the strong expectations within the US business community for deeper practical cooperation between China and the US, and for advancing mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, analysts said.

During the visit, multiple American business representatives in the delegation, who are leaders in their respective industries, expressed optimism about China-US cooperation while highlighting the importance of the Chinese market for their businesses. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook said it was "so great to be back in China," while NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang described the experience as "incredible" and praised the warm hospitality, according to the CCTV News. 

Moreover, Huang said in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency that one of the single most important things China is already doing is focusing on AI and making sure that AI is being applied into every single industry, in healthcare and the life sciences and manufacturing. It's already opening up new opportunities for China, he added.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Xinhua that "I have a good feeling about these talks, and I think there will be good results." 

Furthermore, Musk was spotted in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday, accompanied by his son, whose Chinese-style vest drew widespread media and online attention.

Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, said in an interview with Xinhua that it's a great opportunity for everybody. "I'm very excited to be here and we had great meetings… I think you know China has a vibrant economy and will continue to play a role in the supply chain and especially we see a lot of opportunities combining US technology with China scale," Amon said.

These US CEOs are representatives of America's high-tech sector. Their statements showed that there is broad scope for cooperation between China and the US in high-tech fields, and that the Chinese market is of great importance to them, Hu Qimu, a professor at the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), met with Brendan Nelson, senior vice president of The Boeing Company and president of Boeing Global. A Global Times reporter on site observed that the two sides exchanged gifts: Nelson presented a model of the Boeing 777 aircraft, while Ren gave a mascot of the China International Supply Chain Expo.

In his remarks, Nelson mentioned that Boeing is full of confidence in cooperation and remains committed to deepening its partnerships in China. 

According to a latest report by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, despite global economic headwinds and heightened geopolitical risks, American companies in China continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience and confidence in the market. Half of the surveyed US companies still rank China among their top three global investment destinations, while 79 percent of respondents hold a positive or neutral outlook on the future of China-US relations in 2026, up 30 percentage points from last year.

Echoing the positive findings of the chamber survey, Jeffrey Lehman, chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, said, "I expect you will see the same results with the survey that the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai will publish in September."

Their business strategies are global strategies, and within those global strategies, the Chinese market remains an important component, said Lehman, noting that "Our members, stakeholders, benefit as long as they can sustain a strong competitive presence in China." 

Injecting greater stability

People across various sectors were closely watching the meeting between Chinese and US leaders, hoping that head-of-state diplomacy between China and the US will steer the giant ship of bilateral relations steadily forward and inject greater stability and certainty into a world marked by turbulence and change, Xinhua reported.

John Quelch, executive vice chancellor and distinguished professor of Social Science at Duke Kunshan University, told the Global Times on Thursday that head-of-state engagement helps reduce misunderstanding, builds channels of trust, and creates political space for pragmatic cooperation, even when differences remain in areas such as trade, technology, or security.

Quelch added that the world benefits when the two largest economies can maintain predictability, communicate candidly, and cooperate where interests align.

On a further note, Quelch said that the international environment today is undeniably complex. "Geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, armed conflicts, and technological disruption have all contributed to a heightened sense of uncertainty. In such an environment, major powers are increasingly expected to contribute not only to their own national development, but also to international stability," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Carl Fey, professor of Strategy, BI Norwegian Business School, told the Global Times, "A stable relationship between the US and China would be a huge benefit for China, the US, and the entire world… As the world's two largest economies in the world, if the two countries had a stable and collaborative relationship, it would provide an additional engine for growth."