MNI: AmCham Calls For Greater U.S., China Engagement

U.S. firms operating in China want the likely April meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump to yield the re-establishment of regular, normalised bilateral engagements, while the chances of a sweeping “grand bargain” remain limited, U.S. business leaders in Beijing told MNI. 

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China want the Trump administration to prioritise results-oriented government-to-government engagement, including more frequent senior-level administration and congressional visits, over a focus on headline announcements or specific tariff figures, said Michael Hart, AmCham China President, in an emailed response.

On the Chinese side, AmCham companies would like to see continued progress toward a more level playing field – particularly in areas such as government procurement – alongside sustained engagement with the foreign business community, Hart added.

AmCham China Chairman James Zimmerman said that, while some concrete deliverables are expected, the visit is more likely to prioritise steady progress over a comprehensive agreement, given the short preparation timeline and the complexity of issues on the bilateral agenda.

Trump announced in November he would visit Beijing in April, following a phone call with Xi. Regarding the possibility of a second Trump-Xi meeting at the November APEC summit in Shenzhen, Zimmerman said that evolving domestic dynamics in the U.S. could further encourage high-level engagement.

“Historically, U.S. leaders tend to engage more internationally during their second terms in office,” he noted.

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE

The chamber’s latest business confidence survey, released last week, shows strengthening sentiment among member companies, with 79% of respondents expressing a positive or neutral outlook for U.S.-China relations in 2026 – up 30 percentage points from last year. Zimmerman noted that the timing of the survey, coinciding with the Xi-Trump meeting in Busan in October 2025, may have contributed to the upbeat results.

According to the survey, 48% of respondents now hold an optimistic or slightly optimistic outlook for the next two years regarding China’s domestic market growth, up from 37% in 2025. Encouragingly, 71% of companies said they have not considered relocating production or procurement outside China, up from 67% previously. At the same time, 20% of respondents indicated that China currently ranks as a lower near-term priority in their global investment plans, compared with 11% in 2021 – reflecting evolving corporate diversification strategies and divergence among member companies.

“China continues to be a critical market for many companies,” Zimmerman said, noting that while some firms are reassessing their global footprints, China remains central to long-term growth strategies across a wide range of industries.