(Bloomberg) - President Donald Trump’s request for a delay to his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping is a likely welcome development for Beijing, even as it threatens to inject new uncertainty into ties between the world’s two largest economies.
As the war against Iran rages into its third week, Trump said Monday it was important for him to remain in Washington to oversee the military operations and that he’s seeking to put off the high-profile meeting — currently scheduled for later in March — for about a month. Earlier, the US president linked the prospect of delaying the trip to China to Beijing’s willingness to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global shipping that’s been all but blocked by Iran.
For a Chinese leadership that had felt frustrated by US preparations it deemed insufficient ahead of the landmark summit, the decision is less a setback than an opportunity to regroup. In contrast to most other Group of 20 leaders, Xi has so far stayed silent on the conflict engulfing a major Chinese friend, as officials in Beijing assess the full scale of the economic and diplomatic fallout from the war.
China is willing to delay the meeting given the already short preparation period and that uncertainty about the Iran war could create embarrassing moments during the summit, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Considering the multiple encounters anticipated between Trump and Xi this year, a delay in the upcoming visit would not be a major setback,” said Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former acting deputy US Trade Representative.
Still, the latest developments “underscore the fragility of recent bilateral stabilization efforts and how unforeseen developments can present serious challenges to keeping the truce reached last October intact,” she added.
Top leaders from the world’s largest economies were expected to meet four times this year, a framework designed to steady ties rocked by a sweeping trade war. The delay of Trump’s visit to China — the first by a US leader in nearly a decade — takes the momentum out of that schedule, and raises the question of whether the Republican will be able to visit while his country remains entangled in a war across the Middle East, a region where China has vast economic interests.
When asked on Tuesday to confirm or comment on the suggested postponement, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, only said that China and the US “are maintaining communication regarding issues such as the timing of President Trump’s visit to China.”
For its part, China has never announced the dates for Trump’s visit, following its usual practice of announcing plans for its top leaders only days ahead for security reasons.
Trade Truce
Apart from containing a conflagration spilling across the Middle East and upending energy markets, at stake for Xi and Trump is a one-year trade pact negotiated in October following months of tariff disputes.
In a clear sign the US wants to avoid derailing its economic dialogue with China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attributed the potential delay of the summit to “logistics” after wrapping two days of trade talks with Chinese negotiators in Paris that he described as “really good.” US officials said both sides had discussed establishing a “Board of Trade” and that a delay to the summit shouldn’t spook markets.
A delay possibly lasting a few weeks and up to two months won’t have a “big impact on US-China relations,” said George Chen, partner and co-chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, which was co-founded by former US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
“The trade talks in Paris between Bessent and He Lifeng actually demonstrated a certain level of confidence and progress in managing US-China relations in the economic aspect,” he added.
Even as the drama unfolded in the days after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, Xi avoided directly addressing the topic, leaving it to his diplomats to work the phones.
The Chinese leader has also refrained from making any public gestures in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or the election of his son as successor. Instead, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Miao Deyu was dispatched to the Iranian embassy to offer condolences “on behalf of the Chinese side.”
By contrast, just four days into Israel’s brief war against Iran in June, Xi expressed “deep concerns” about the military operation. And when former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a plane crash in 2024, Xi sent a message of condolence, describing his death as “a great loss to the Iranian people.”
This time around, with Iran lashing out by striking neighboring Gulf Arab economies, Beijing has had to tread with extra caution, given its extensive ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. While condemning Khamenei’s death and civilian casualties caused by the US and Israel, China’s Foreign Ministry also decried Iran’s attacks on the non-military targets in the Gulf nations.
Beijing has sent a special envoy to the region while touting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s efforts to step up his “diplomatic push for peace” by reaching out to nearly a dozen nations including Russia.
Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai who previously advised the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said more headway is needed on the “security and diplomatic dimension” of ties with the US.
“From a Chinese perspective, it’s not a bad idea to postpone the visit so we have more time to prepare for this summit when Trump can refocus on this issue,” he said.
“From the US side, it really depends on the situation in the Gulf,” he added. “You don’t know when you’re going to see an end to the conflict. I think this is the major uncertainty for the US.”
Bloomberg News
With assistance from Eric Martin.
