China considers BYD to join Xi’s CEO entourage for Trump summit

BEIJING - Chinese officials are considering BYD for a possible business delegation joining President Xi Jinping’s summit with US President Donald Trump next week in Washington, according to people familiar with the matter.Senior officials including Xi’s chief of staff, Cai Qi, are reviewing a list of Chinese business titans for his state visit slated for Sept 24, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive issues. The list isn’t final and could change at the last minute, the people said.Including BYD founder Wang Chuanfu in the top leader’s delegation would be a provocative move. The US has imposed 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, effectively blocking them from the American market. In June, the electric car behemoth was blacklisted by the Pentagon over alleged links to the People’s Liberation Army. BYD firmly denies claims it supports the Chinese military. China’s selection criteria for the delegation includes having a potential US deal in progress, loyalty to the Communist Party and a known ability to avoid detracting attention from Xi, according to the people.Several Chinese industry chiefs being considered to accompany Xi are still awaiting US visas, the South China Morning Post reported last week, citing a person familiar with the matter.BYD, China’s Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy in Beijing didn’t reply to requests for comment. The US State Department didn’t respond to an e-mail sent outside working hours.When Trump visited Beijing in May he was joined by a coterie of high-profile executives including Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Jensen Huang. Nvidia Corp.’s boss is also expected to attend Trump’s state dinner with Xi next week, Bloomberg reported. During Xi’s last state visit to the US in 2015, he brought a delegation of prominent Chinese CEOs. Back then, tech leaders such as Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and Tencent’s Pony Ma accompanied him, as well as executives from Chinese state-owned companies and banks. Wu Xinbo, director of Fudan University’s Center for American Studies and a former adviser to China’s Foreign Ministry, said BYD would make sense on Xi’s invite list. “China would love to invest in the EV sector in the US, if they permit it,” he said.Any potential deal involving Chinese carmakers would be a watershed moment for the US given the significant barriers to entry. Domestic auto manufacturers argue their Chinese counterparts benefit from subsidies that allow them to sell at artificially low prices, skewing competition.Chinese automakers have been growing rapidly around the world, taking share in established markets such as Europe while also moving ever closer to the US’ doorstep. Canada’s government recently began allowing some Chinese EVs into the country, while BYD vehicles are becoming commonplace in Mexico.American jobsTrump has suggested he might be willing to allow a Chinese car company to build electric vehicles in the US, if it did so with American workers.“We don’t allow his cars into the United States, and we never did,” he told Fox News earlier in September. “Now, if China wanted to come in, and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be okay with it.”Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley in February discussed a potential framework with the White House where Chinese automakers could build cars in America through joint ventures with their local rivals, although such suggestions have been met fierce opposition. BYD already operates an electric bus manufacturing facility in California.Senator Elissa Slotkin, who represents the American auto hub of Michigan, wrote on X earlier in September that a “moment of inflection” was coming during Xi’s visit. “We hear rumours that Trump is planning to allow Chinese cars to be sold in the US, as part of a larger deal he’s putting together,” she posted. “That would be a strategic mistake – and one that will irrevocably impact not just the 1.2 million Michigan jobs directly or indirectly tied to the auto industry, but the overall manufacturing capacity of the United States.” BLOOMBERG