[Video] US–China tech ties revealed at Xi’s power banquet
A carefully curated guest list at the high-profile state banquet during the Trump-Xi summit placed American and Chinese tech titans side by side, revealing not just diplomatic optics, but a supply chain that remains deeply intertwined despite rising geopolitical tension. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina finds out more.
Following the Trump-Xi summit, much of the online attention fixated on viral moments: a 14-second handshake between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and clips of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s cheeky expressions, alongside jokes about Trump peeking at Xi’s notes.
Beyond the diplomatic pageantry and viral highlights, equally fascinating is the incredible lineup of tech leaders and the strategic seating arrangement at the state banquet, offering a snapshot of global technology power and its carefully managed interdependence. American tech titans, including Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, were seated among a select group of Chinese manufacturing and technology executives, figures embedded deep within critical nodes of the global supply chain.
Seated directly between Tim Cook and Elon Musk is Zhou Qunfei, the founder and chairwoman of Lens Technology. Her firm is the precision manufacturing giant behind the touchscreen glass on your iPhones and the smart-cockpit components inside Tesla cars.
Going viral for snagging a selfie with Elon Musk is Lei Jun, the founder and CEO of Xiaomi, a global smartphone giant commanding a massive ecosystem of smart home gadgets and connected IoT devices that tie into consumer tech worldwide. However, his impromptu photo op has sparked heavily divided reactions from Chinese netizens.
Next is Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo, the world’s largest PC vendor supplying the exact laptops and enterprise servers running inside schools and corporate offices all over the globe, including in the United States.
There’s also Cao Hui, Chairman of Fuyao Glass, the world’s largest automotive glass producer. With a massive manufacturing plant in Ohio, it supplies American giants like Ford, General Motors and Tesla.
Then there’s Liang Rubo — a name you might not know, but you’ve definitely heard of his company’s app. He is the CEO of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and its domestic counterpart, Douyin. Together, their platforms bring in close to three billion monthly users worldwide.
Next is Zhou Yunjie, Chairman of Haier. The company acquired GE Appliances in 2016, a brand whose products can be found in half of all US homes.
And the list goes on.
Noticeably absent, however, were several of China’s most prominent tech champions, including Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, BYD founder Wang Chuanfu and DJI founder Frank Wang. Each firm sits directly at the centre of ongoing regulatory and trade discussions. Huawei is heavily impacted by US export controls; BYD is at the epicentre of global electric vehicle tariff debates; and DJI faces continuous regulatory scrutiny over drone market dominance.
On one hand, some analysts suggest that leaving these heavily disputed firms off the guest list was a pragmatic diplomatic move, to keep the evening focused on areas of active corporate cooperation without immediate friction.
On the other hand, outlets such as Forbes interpret the arrangement as a broader political signal from President Xi, reinforcing the idea that corporate actors remain secondary to state authority in shaping market access and engagement.
Ultimately, observers agree that this highly choreographed evening underscores just how deeply intertwined the global technology supply chain has become, with these tech giants sitting at the centre of a “constructive relationship of strategic stability”.
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