A notable absence.. Why did Xi not accompany the heads of major Chinese companies to Washington?

When US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held their high-profile meeting in Beijing in May, Trump took with him a delegation of senior executives from US technology companies, including Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Tim Cook, who was then CEO of Apple. But when Xi visited the United States this week, he did not bring any Chinese CEOs with him.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Xi was planning to take a large business delegation with him. The South China Morning Post also reported that executives from BYD, the Chinese electric car giant, Xiaomi, a smartphone manufacturer, and Catel, the leading battery manufacturer, were among those expected to join his accompanying delegation.

But Chinese CEOs were noticeably absent from the dinner held at the White House on Thursday evening. Cui Hongjian, a researcher in international relations at the Foreign Studies University in Beijing, told Ofoq News Network that Beijing may have seen that the time was not appropriate to show a prominent presence of Chinese CEOs.

"At present, both sides are still at a stage where they want to achieve greater stability in the political situation," Cui said. He added: "Once the two sides actually achieve fundamental breakthroughs in their economic and trade negotiations, I believe that it will be more appropriate to see prominent manifestations of cooperation at the CEO level or in the economic and trade fields."

Wu Xinbo, an advisor to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Ofoq News Network that logistical challenges also hampered plans to send the delegation. He also pointed out that there were concerns in Beijing that some members of Trump's team were not viewing US-China relations as positively as the US president.

He said: "This was a major reason why the Chinese side did not send that economic and trade delegation."