Chinese Vice President Meets with US Leaders, Business Executives Ahead of Trump Inauguration

China’s Vice President Han Zheng engaged in a series of high-level meetings in Washington, D.C., on Monday, the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, signaling a potential shift in US-China relations, The Associated Press reports.

Han, acting as an envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping, met with US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, business leaders, including Elon Musk, and representatives from prominent business organizations.

The discussions with Vance, according to the Trump transition team, covered a range of topics including the fentanyl crisis, trade imbalances, and regional stability. Han emphasized the “extensive common interests and enormous space of cooperation” between the two nations, despite existing “disagreements and frictions,” according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

This meeting comes amidst ongoing tensions between the US and China, particularly regarding trade and technology. Trump has previously threatened to impose tariffs and other measures against China, while also signaling a willingness to cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and curbing the export of substances used in the production of fentanyl.

In a departure from standard protocol, Trump had invited Xi to his inauguration last month. While Xi will not be attending in person, he and Trump held a phone call on Friday where they discussed trade, fentanyl, and TikTok. Notably, TikTok service was restored in the US on Sunday, hours after it was suspended due to a federal ban. Trump has pledged to pause the ban through an executive order on Monday.

Han’s engagements also included meetings with top US business executives, including Musk and representatives from the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce. The Chinese Vice President reiterated China’s commitment to improving the business environment for foreign firms, expressing hopes for continued U investment in the country.

Musk, whose Tesla company operates a factory in Shanghai, took to his platform X to express his opposition to the TikTok ban, describing it as a violation of free speech. However, Musk also highlighted the imbalance in access, pointing out that while TikTok operates in the US, his own platform X is blocked in China, alongside other major US social media and news websites including YouTube, Google, Facebook, and various major US media outlets.