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By Micah McCartney
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Beijing has responded to President Donald Trump’s statement that his postponed China visit for talks with counterpart Xi Jinping would take place in mid-May.
“The two countries are in communication regarding President Trump’s visit to China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during Thursday’s regular press briefing, without confirming the dates. “Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance to China-U.S. relations.”
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Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. by email with a request for comment outside regular office hours.
The trip, which would be Trump’s first to China in more than eight years, is expected to build on the leaders’ last face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in October 2025, which yielded modest concessions and a provisional easing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Originally set for March 31, Trump delayed the visit, citing the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Beijing has repeatedly pointed to the importance of top-level talks in stabilizing relations, which remain strained over issues ranging from tariffs to Taiwan.
Trump said his trip to Beijing for talks with the "highly respected president of China" is now set for May 14 and 15.
“First Lady Melania and I will also host President Xi and Madame Peng [Liyuan] for a reciprocal visit in Washington, D.C., at a later date this year,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Our representatives are finalizing preparations for these historic visits. I look very much forward to spending time with President Xi in what will be, I am sure, a monumental event.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the revised timeline later that day, telling reporters Xi had agreed to delay the meeting. “President Xi understood that it's very important for the president to be here throughout these combat operations right now,” she said.
A White House spokesperson told Newsweek the Chinese side had confirmed the May 14-15 visit.
Trump previously said the conflict with Iran could last as little as four to five weeks and has repeatedly declared victory. “We’ve won this. This war has been won,” the president said Tuesday in the Oval Office.
The fighting nears end of its fourth week, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz—a conduit for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil—continues at a trickle. China, the top buyer of Iranian crude, has called for an immediate ceasefire and the restoration of transit through the waterway to limit the impact on the global economy.
Update 3/30/26 4:30 a.m. E.T. This article has been updated with a comment from the White House.
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