Why experts say trade wins aren’t enough for Xi-Trump summit in May

One former diplomat also warned of a “malpractice-like” lack of summit preparation that might prevent the two leaders from making progress on complex security and people-to-people issues beyond trade deals.

The summit, originally planned for late March, has been rescheduled to mid-May due to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Roberta Lipson, founder of United Family Healthcare, China’s first foreign-funded private hospital, said she was confident the summit next month would produce “a number of transaction wins, with probably soybean and aircraft orders and further tariff reductions, which will help stabilise the mood in the business community”.