A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang will not travel to Beijing as part of President Donald Trump’s visit to China this week. The source said Huang was not invited to join the delegation, as the White House is prioritizing discussions on agriculture and commercial aviation matters - including potential orders for Boeing aircraft - on the current trip.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The visit was expected to include a number of corporate leaders who would accompany the president to promote U.S. business interests, a stated priority for the administration. In related developments confirmed last week, Citigroup Chief Executive Jane Fraser received an invitation to join the delegation. Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon is prepared to attend provided the trip proceeds as planned, according to another person with knowledge of the arrangements.
President Trump has cultivated a strong relationship with Huang during his time in office and previously agreed to permit exports of Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence chips to China. However, those chips have not yet been sold in China. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on April 22 that Chinese companies have faced difficulties obtaining permission from their government to purchase the devices, which has impeded sales.
The combination of administration priorities for the trip, invitations extended to some corporate leaders and the unresolved status of H200 sales in China frames the current corporate and trade dynamics surrounding the visit. Sources cited in these matters have provided the account regarding attendance and chip sales, while official responses from the White House were not available at the time of reporting.
Summary
A source said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is not attending President Trump’s trip to China because he was not invited, as the White House is concentrating on agriculture and commercial aviation topics such as Boeing orders. Some CEOs will travel to promote U.S. business; Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser was invited and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon intends to go if the trip happens. Although U.S. approval was granted to export Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China, sales have not occurred due to Chinese government permission issues, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.