Tim Cook (left), CEO of Apple, and Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, accompanied Trump on his visit to China. (Beijing EPA=Yonhap News)

It has drawn attention that American business leaders, who accompanied U.S. President Donald Trump on his visit to China, participated in part of the U.S.-China summit held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 14th (local time).

In a briefing document related to the U.S.-China summit, a White House official stated, "Both sides discussed ways to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, including expanding the market access for American companies in China and increasing investment by Chinese companies in our (U.S.) industrial sectors," and added, "Leaders of numerous top American companies participated in part of the meeting."

While the specifics of how the American business executives participated in the meeting are not precisely known, it is undoubtedly an unusual scene for private business figures to be present in the usual summit setting where heads of state are accompanied by key cabinet members from both nations on either side. This is because business leaders accompanying a head of state on a foreign visit for a summit typically participate in separate programs arranged by the host country or other entities, and rarely attend the summit itself.

This is interpreted as an indication that economic cooperation between the two countries was a primary agenda item for this summit and reflects President Trump's desire for China to open its markets.

During the summit's opening remarks session, which was open to the press, President Trump mentioned that CEOs of major American companies had accompanied him on his visit to China and stated, "They are looking forward to trade and business, and that will be completely reciprocal on our side."

Additionally, Chinese state media reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the American business leaders who visited China that day.

The list of American business leaders accompanying President Trump on this state visit included leaders from major U.S. companies such as Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla; and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

Furthermore, top executives from leading companies across finance, manufacturing, and information technology (IT), including BlackRock, Blackstone, Boeing, Cargill, Citigroup, Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, Illumina, Mastercard, Meta, Micron, Qualcomm, and Visa, accompanied Trump on his visit to China.

Some CEOs who participated in a portion of the summit conveyed a positive atmosphere of the meeting to reporters as they left the Great Hall of the People, the venue for the summit.

When asked about the atmosphere of the meeting, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, replied, "Great," and added that "many good things" were happening. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, said, "The meeting went well," and commented, "President Xi and President Trump are incredible," while Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, responded with a thumbs-up.