US President Donald Trump paid a state visit to the People’s Republic of China, meeting with President Xi Jinping from May 13 to 15 in Beijing. This was the first presidential visit to China since President Trump visited there in his first term, November 8-10, 2017. President Joe Biden did not make a bilateral visit to China. He and President Xi Jinping met three times on the margins of the G20 and APEC Summits. APEC is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The USA and China are the two largest economies in the world, though China is classified as a developing country. China is also a communist country with what is called a socialist market economy. The US and China could be considered both competitors and adversaries: competitors in trade and investments. China, being more a state-managed economy, has been an issue in trade. They are adversaries in security matters as they are both nuclear powers and have strong militaries. The matter of the independence of Taiwan has been a security concern, as well as China’s ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S VISIT