China frustrated by last-minute scramble to plan Xi-Trump summit

US not following usual practice of sending high-level officials to lay the groundwork

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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in 2025. In the absence of more elaborate coordination, business deals look set to become the main outcomes of the upcoming summit between them.

(PHOTO: REUTERS)

BEIJING – With three weeks until US President Donald Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing is frustrated by what it sees as insufficient US preparation that may limit the landmark summit to trade agreements and leave key diplomatic and security matters untouched.

Chinese officials are dissatisfied with what they consider last-minute planning ahead of Mr Trump’s arrival on March 31, according to a person familiar with the preparations.

The White House’s lack of communication about the US leader’s expectations for the visit has also been an issue for Beijing, said another person familiar with the matter, who was not authorised to speak publicly.

The Chinese frustrations stem, in part, from the White House’s departure from Beijing’s standard practice of hosting high-level US officials to lay the groundwork for a state visit. Before Mr Trump’s last trip to China in 2017, for example, the US dispatched both a secretary of state and a commerce chief to China months before the US leader’s arrival.

A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss the planning, said the Trump administration is very comfortable with trip preparations regarding both logistics and the policy outcomes the leaders intend to achieve.

China’s Foreign Ministry said both sides “maintain communication on the interaction between the two heads of state”, without elaborating.