Xi came to Washington without a corporate delegation. The Wall Street Journal reported before the trip that he was unlikely to bring executives, and Bloomberg reported that the summit would draw a robust group of US corporate leaders with no comparable Chinese delegation, raising questions about the prospects for striking new deals. The South China Morning Post reported that US investment concerns stalled plans for Chinese business leaders to join the trip.
The dinner came as Trump and Xi agreed to extend their trade truce to Jan. 10, 2027. Ahead of it, a small group of Chinese CEOs with US visas had arrived in Washington separately from Xi's official delegation and were still waiting to learn whether they would receive invitations, with their attendance dependent on the final stages of US-China diplomatic negotiations.