The president is also travelling with a large contingent of business leaders that reportedly includes:

• Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and Space X CTO

• Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO

• Tim Cook, Apple CEO

• Kelly Ortberg, Boeing CEO

• Dina Powell McCormick, Meta president and vice chairman

• Larry Fink, Blackrock chairman and CEO

• Other banking, finance and tech executives

So who else travelled with Trump on Air Force One to China? According to a partial list provided by the White House: US secretary of state Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and senior adviser Stephen Miller.

Also onboard were Eric and Lara Trump, plus an array of White House advisers, strategists, speech writers and communications executives.

One of Trump’s pressing concerns as he visits Beijing is how to find a way to reopen the strait of Hormuz, through which half of China’s crude oil passes.

China has been more insulated from the energy shock than other Asian countries, thanks to its diversified energy mix and large stockpiles. But the risk of a global recession – which the International Monetary Fund has warned is a possible outcome of the Iran war – is a bigger threat to China’s economy.

About a fifth of China’s GDP comes from exports. If the rest of the world is no longer able to spend money on goods, China will suffer.

There’s speculation Trump could use the summit to seek Beijing’s help to end the war with China-allied Iran. But the US president told reporters before departing the White House on Tuesday:

I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other – peacefully or otherwise.”

The Guardian’s senior China correspondent, Amy Hawkins, has examined the biggest questions hanging over the Trump-Xi talks, which begin later today.

The Trump-Xi summit will span two days. It was originally scheduled for late March or early April but was delayed due to the Iran war.

Now that Trump is in China, here are some of the hazards the US president faces.

Donald Trump’s state visit to China this week is the first by a US president in nearly a decade and comes amid a time of geopolitical upheaval, a Middle East war with no end in sight and a sometimes rocky relationship between the world’s two major superpowers.

Aside from discussions about Iran, Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to discuss trade and tariffs, Taiwan and AI.

Stay with us as we cover this high-stakes visit. It’s approaching 8.10am in Beijing.