WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President is set to leave Tuesday for with President after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month war 鈥� or at the very least, reopen the
Trump has veered between venting that China, the world鈥檚 biggest buyer of Iranian oil, hasn’t done more to get the Islamic Republic in line, and acknowledging that de-escalate the conflict last month by nudging Tehran back to ceasefire talks when negotiations wobbled.
But ahead of the the White House has set low expectations that Trump will be able to persuade Xi to change China’s posture.
Instead, the administration seems determined not to let overshadow efforts to make headway on other difficult matters in the complicated relationship 鈥� ranging from to further Chinese cooperation to
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want this to be something that derails the broader relationship or the agreements that might come out of our meeting in Beijing,鈥� U.S. Trade Representative said on Bloomberg TV last week.
US administration sanctioned China ahead of the trip
Beijing publicly insists that it wants to see the war end and has been working diplomatically behind the scenes to help its ally Pakistan push to broker a peace agreement. It has also sent a 鈥渟ubtle message of discontent to Iran鈥� for closing the Strait of Hormuz, and to the U.S. for its blockade of Iranian shipping, said Ahmed Aboudouh, a specialist on China鈥檚 influence in the Middle East with the London-based Chatham House think tank.
鈥淭hey are very cautious, risk averse, and they don鈥檛 want to be involved in anything that would drag them into something that they don鈥檛 consider their problem,鈥� he said.
In recent days, Secretary of State and Treasury Secretary have for China to use its influence to help reopen the strait, through which about 20% of the world’s crude flowed before the war began.
The State Department announced Friday it was sanctioning four entities, including three China-based firms, for that enables Iranian military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East. Earlier, the Treasury Department moved accused of purchasing oil from Tehran, as well as shippers of the oil. The sanctions cut off the companies from the U.S. financial system and penalize anyone who does business with them.
Beijing has called the sanctions 鈥渋llegal unilateral pressure鈥� and enacted a blocking statute 鈥� passed in 2021 and never used until now 鈥� that prohibits any Chinese entity from recognizing or complying with the sanctions.
Ahead of Trump’s arrival, Chinese Foreign Minister his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing. The Chinese foreign minister used the moment to defend Iran鈥檚 right to develop civilian nuclear energy.
Xi has also offered implicit criticism of the U.S. over the war. He has said that safeguarding international rule of law is paramount, adding it 鈥渕ust not be selectively applied or disregarded,鈥� nor should the world be allowed to
Both China and the US want to avoid a return to a tariff war
Trump on Monday downplayed differences with China over Iran and underscored that Xi wants to see the strait reopened. 鈥淗e鈥檇 like to see it get done,鈥� Trump said of the Chinese leader.
Like Trump, Xi also has plenty of reason to not let differences over Iran impact other facets of the relationship, analysts say. China imports about half its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from Middle Eastern countries affected by the closure of the strait, according to China鈥檚 General Administration of Customs.
Beijing wants to 鈥� something that would add further challenges to its economy.
鈥淚 think for Xi, a win is continued stability without surrender,鈥� said Craig Singleton, senior director for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ China program. 鈥淗e wants the summit to validate China鈥檚 superpower status, preserve the tariff predictability, and to reaffirm that Washington has to deal with Beijing on Beijing鈥檚 terms.鈥�
Yet, since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February, there have been difficult moments between Trump and Xi that threatened to set back the relative stability in their relationship.
China has long supported Iran鈥檚 ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.
Last month, Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on China after reports that Beijing was preparing to deliver a shipment of new air defense systems to Iran, but later backed away from the threat, claiming that he had received that he would not provide Tehran with weaponry. Days later, Trump said cryptically that the U.S. Navy had intercepted a Chinese vessel carrying a 鈥済ift鈥� for Iran. He has not offered further explanation.
鈥淭here have been moments where it seemed like it was going to spill over,鈥� said Patricia Kim, who co-leads the Assessing China Project at the Brookings Institution. 鈥淏ut I think, again, the two sides are pretty invested in not allowing this to destabilize the broader relationship.鈥�
Both Trump and Xi may be eager to avoid creating dark economic clouds, as they did last year, when the two powers appeared on the precipice of a massive trade war.
Trump had set tariffs on Chinese goods at 145% and China announced a further tightening of rare-earth export controls that would have hurt U.S. industry 鈥� before the governments backed off from inflicting maximalist penalties on each other. The two sides reached in October.
Trump and other administration officials have made the case that the Iran conflict 鈥� particularly the closure of the strait 鈥� has caused greater harm to China and its Pacific neighbors than it has to the United States, which is far less dependent on Middle East oil.
鈥淐hina is an export-driven economy. That means they depend on other countries to buy from them,鈥� Rubio told reporters last week, making the case that it was in China’s interest for Iran to let traffic resume. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 buy from them if you can鈥檛 ship it there, and you can鈥檛 buy from them if your economy is being destroyed by what Iran is doing,鈥� he said.
But for now, China has shown little interest in wading deeper into the conflict and has appeared reluctant to be seen siding with Washington.
鈥淚t will be difficult to get the Chinese deeply involved under any circumstances,鈥� said Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state during the Biden administration and chair of The Asia Group. 鈥淭hey will want to be careful because they can see political quicksand as well as the next guy.鈥�
___
Associated Press writers Didi Tang in Washington, Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
