The Chinese officials attending the Xi-Trump meeting included heads of diplomacy and economic departments, as well as Minister of National Defense Dong Jun representing the military.
The Xi-Trump talks held on Thursday morning lasted for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
According to CCTV news footage, there were 13 people on the Chinese side participating in the meeting, including: Chinese President Xi Jinping, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee Cai Qi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng, Defense Minister Dong Jun, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission Zheng Shanjie, Finance Minister Lan Foan, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng, Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei, and others.
The U.S. officials included Secretary of State Rubio, Defense Secretary Hergeseth, Trade Representative Greer, Treasury Secretary Besent, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Miller, and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung (Zhang Zhenxi), among others.
According to CNN, the first five Chinese officials to greet Trump were Cai Qi, Wang Yi, He Lifeng, Dong Jun, and Zheng Shanjie.
Cai Qi is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat; he is called Xi Jinping’s “chief steward,” acts as Xi’s chief of staff, is considered one of the most powerful figures in Xi’s inner circle, and is responsible for managing the party's ideological work, as well as Xi Jinping’s security, schedule arrangements, and daily affairs.
Wang Yi is China’s Foreign Minister and the nation’s top diplomat. In addition to serving as Foreign Minister, Wang Yi is also Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, which decides the overall direction of China’s foreign policy.
He Lifeng is China’s Vice Premier; since 2023, he has served as Beijing’s chief negotiator for economic and trade affairs with Washington and is a longtime confidant of Xi Jinping.
Dong Jun is China’s Minister of National Defense and the first defense minister since the founding of the PRC to come from the Navy.
Zheng Shanjie is the Director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is in charge of China’s major “15th Five-Year Plan” policies.