What to Expect from the Trump-Xi Summit: A Conversation with Dr. Da Wei

What to Expect from the Trump-Xi Summit: A Conversation with Dr. Da Wei

From China Global by The German Marshall Fund

March 17, 2026 · 40 min · Episode 121

About this episode

The episode discusses the upcoming Trump-Xi summit and its implications for US-China relations.

President Donald Trump is expected to visit Beijing from March 31 to April 2 for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. It will mark the first meeting between the two leaders since they agreed to a trade truce last October that ended months of escalating tensions prompted by tariffs imposed by the United States and Chinese restrictions on rare earth exports. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris later this week to explore possible outcomes that could be announced during the Beijing summit.Planning for such a major summit usually takes place over several months, and is getting underway quite late, causing many observers to question whether anything meaningful can be achieved. In the meantime, the US is distracted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Iran and a US-Israel coalition. To discuss the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, we're joined today by Dr. Da Wei. He is director of the Center for International Security and Strategy and professor of International Relations at Qinghua University.

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Da Wei

Topics covered

  • US-China relations
  • trade negotiations
  • international diplomacy
  • political commentary
  • summit planning

Keywords

  • Trump
  • Xi
  • summit
  • trade truce
  • international relations
  • China
  • US
  • diplomacy
  • politics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Center for International Security and Strategy, Qinghua University

Places: Beijing, Paris

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