The discussions, which the people say are in the early stages, come as the Trump administration is ramping up tariff and other trade measures against China. This strategy aims to build leverage for negotiations with Beijing.
Trump and Xi, through their representatives, have expressed interest in a summit since Trump won the election in November. The latest talks on a potential summit in the month when both leaders celebrate birthdays signal a willingness from both sides to inject some goodwill in the relationship amid trade tensions that have unsettled global markets and businesses.
Xi was born on June 15, 1953, five years after Trump, who was born on June 14, 1946.
Nothing has been firmed up for now, the people cautioned. Neither the White House nor the Chinese Embassy immediately responded to a request for comment.
With economic pressure building in China, Beijing has a strong interest in engaging in negotiations to fend off, or at least slow down, additional tariff hikes and technology restrictions from the U.S. China hopes that a summit between the two leaders could help kick-start the process, according to people familiar with Beijing’s thinking.
Since Trump’s inauguration in January, the administration has threatened, then paused, tariffs on Mexico and Canada, while pledging to impose import duties on Europe and other trading partners. So far, China is the only country that has actually faced across-the-board tariff increases from Trump.
Early this month, the White House imposed another 10% in tariffs on China on top of ones set in February, citing China’s role in the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. The moves raised the average duty rate on Chinese imports to around 35% from about 14.5% as of 2023. Beijing quickly retaliated with measured tariffs of its own, tailoring its response to avoid escalating tensions.
Other actions being considered by Trump’s trade team include restricting Chinese investment in the U.S. and U.S. investment in China, targeting industries dominated by China, such as shipbuilding, as well as further limiting the sale of high-tech products to Chinese companies. Agency reviews of the bilateral economic relations, ordered by Trump on his first day in office, are due by early April.
Traveling to Washington carries risks for Xi: He could come off as a supplicant to Trump at a time when pressure is building. Chinese officials involved in talks for a summit are also wary of any optics similar to the public scolding of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Feb. 28
That is why Beijing has shown greater interest in having Trump travel to Beijing for a summit, according to the people familiar with the matter. That remains a possibility in the continuing conversations between the two sides about a leaders’ summit.
Advisers to the White House have said Trump isn’t in a rush to negotiate with Xi because of the U.S.’s economic strength. The American leader, who has repeatedly heaped praise on Xi, calling him a “good friend,” also continues to believe that he can take actions like tariffs, while simultaneously expecting that his personal relationship with Xi will survive and provide a buffer for some of the shock to both sides of trade tariffs, according to the advisers.
Recent official data show China’s exports—one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy—rose 2.3% in January and February compared with a year earlier, well below expectations. Meanwhile, China has entered a cycle of deflation, with consumer inflation dropping below zero last month for the first time in over a year.
Still, China has sought to project strength in public. The Xi leadership last week announced a growth target of about 5% for 2025, the same as in recent years, indicating that it expects the Chinese economy to resist the rising trade pressures. At a press conference last week, Foreign Minister Wang Yi scolded the Trump administration’s approach to China.
“No country should harbor the illusion that it can suppress and contain China while simultaneously building good relations with China,” Wang said, calling the U.S. approach “two-faced.”
Behind the scenes, however, Beijing has been eager to engage with the Trump team to avoid a superpower clash not seen since the Cold War, an all-encompassing rivalry over economic, technological and overall geopolitical supremacy.
Since Trump’s electoral victory in November, China has dispatched several delegations to Washington to explore potential deals with the new administration, arguing that tariffs would add to the inflationary pressure in the U.S. that Trump is trying to tame. Beijing has prepared an opening bid that involves more purchases of American farm and other products, though it hasn’t formally made the offer.
Most recently, Chinese delegations to the U.S. have tried to get a better understanding of Trump’s enthusiastic embrace of Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. Administration officials have said the outreach is propelled in part by a strategic desire to drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing.
During a trip to the United Nations in New York late last month, Wang, the Chinese foreign minister, didn’t meet with any officials from the Trump administration. But he indicated to people he met that both sides were expecting to have a leaders’ summit in the summer, according to the people familiar with the matter.
“A leaders’ summit would benefit everyone,” one of the people said.
Write to Lingling Wei at Lingling.Wei@wsj.com and Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com
