Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attended a state banquet for US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told American CEOs traveling with President Donald Trump that the door to business in China will "open wider."
"Xi said that U.S. companies are deeply involved in China's reform and opening up, and both sides have benefited from this," according to a report from the state-backed newspaper Xinhua.
"Noting that China's door will only open wider, Xi said China welcomes the United States to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation with China, and expressed belief that U.S. companies will enjoy even broader prospects in China."
Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, and Apple CEO Tim Cook were among the top technology executives who traveled with Trump to China. Trump introduced each of them to Xi one by one, Xinhua reported.
"The U.S. entrepreneurs said that they attach great importance to the Chinese market, and hope to deepen their business operations in China and strengthen cooperation with China," the newspaper said.
The White House, posting on X (formerly Twitter), appeared to reciprocate the sentiment around market access. "The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment," The White House said in a statement on X.
Xi's comments are a "strong statement to world companies to continue to invest in China," George Chen, partner and co-chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, told CNBC. "I think the statement Xi made about opening up is not just for propaganda. China does need to remain attractive for foreign investments."
Both China and the U.S. are developing artificial intelligence (AI) at a rapid pace.
The U.S. has sought to cut off China from various technologies that could advance the country's AI, including Nvidia's chips. China has doubled down on its domestic technology supply chain with local semiconductor firms stepping in to fill the void.
China's AI models, from companies like Alibaba, have been able to compete with some of the technology released from leading firms in the U.S.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that Washington had given the green light for Nvidia to supply some tech companies in China with the H200, one of its more advanced products. Nvidia has been subjected to export restrictions to China, but there have been several reports over the past year suggesting that the U.S. would allow the company to sell chips to the country. However, it appears none of that has materialized as China has reportedly urged local companies to buy domestic semiconductors.
Asked by CNBC's Joe Kernen about the report regarding Nvidia's H200s, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: "This is news to me."
"I know there's been a lot of back and forth ... and we'll have to see on that. That's a commerce department function," Bessent added.
Huang, who was a late addition to the China trip, called the meeting in Beijing "one of the most important summits in human history," in comments to reporters. But he declined to comment on Nvidia's chip sales in China, instead saying Trump and Xi struck a welcoming tone.
"Today's morning ceremony was very uplifting. President Xi was very inspiring, very welcoming, and President Trump was very inspiring and very welcoming," Huang said.
Bessent told CNBC that China and the U.S. are going to work together on a safety protocol for "best practices for AI to make sure non-state actors don't get a hold of these models."
