Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What American and Chinese people want 
 
 US President Donald Trump will host his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for two days of talks in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. From trade to currency to North Korea, a lot is on the table for the leaders of the world's two largest economies. Will they have time for some golf? 
 
 As in alpha males. At a fraught moment in history, the world's two biggest economies are led by two macho men about to meet on a blind date. A could also be for the anxiety this unpredictable encounter provokes among policymakers on both sides, especially in a Chinese presidential team which hates surprises. 
 
 President Trump has done a lot of rhetorical China bashing. But at this summit the contours of a real US China policy must start to appear. Was all Mr Trump's campaign talk of winning against China just sound and fury signifying nothing or was it a muscular new policy in the making? 
 
 President Trump has repeatedly accused China of being a master manipulator of its currency. Many economists say it was once but isn't now. For the past two years China has been selling its reserves to keep the value of its currency up rather than driving it down to boost exports. In Florida, will President Trump call President Xi a currency manipulator to his face or will he pick a different battle? 
 
 Read more: The risks and benefits of China weakening its currency 
 
 What will this summit actually deliver? Nearly half the US trade deficit is with China and this week President Trump said again the US "cannot continue to trade if we are going to have an unfair deal like we have right now". But in his lexicon, D is also for difficult. He has warned that the summit with President Xi will be exactly that, which is perhaps a way of managing expectations down towards Ds for disappointment and deterioration. Some pessimists warn that the most this summit can deliver is greater predictability in a stressed and uncertain relationship. Other pessimists say those pessimists are already too optimistic, that this summit is premature because President Trump doesn't even have a China team let alone a coherent China policy. But those pessimists are in the American camp. For China, US incoherence is a source of optimism. 
 
 And US employment. President Xi must convince his host that China offers solutions for both if he wants to keep US markets open to Chinese goods. 
 
 President Trump is giving President Xi plenty of it by inviting him to his private Florida resort. That's meaningful to a status conscious Chinese audience at home. If Mr Trump can refrain from tarnishing the gift by some unforeseen slight or offence, optimists say he may get a calculated concession on North Korea or trade in return. 
 
 Because President Xi disapproves of a game played back home between tycoons and corrupt Communist Party officials. Instead G is for globalisation of which the Chinese president now likes to see himself the champion. Along with efforts to tackle climate change. Expect subtle Chinese allusions to President Trump's retreat from both. 
 
 It's supposed to be a gesture of peace and its absence would send the wrong signal, but President Xi has his own version of this ritual and will not want to submit to the much studied Trump grab and yank. Watch for a hybrid handshake. 
 
 Ivanka Trump, The soft power weapon of the Trump administration in China. Opinions divide on the father, but the daughter is a source of fascination to many young Chinese, and when relations between the incoming Trump administration and Beijing were at their nadir following the president elect's phone call with the Taiwanese president, it was Ivanka who kept lines of communication open with her attendance at a Chinese new year embassy function in Washington. 
 
 Read more: Could China's Trump tactics actually be working? 
 
 Jared Kushner, Ivanka's husband, has also established a good relationship with China's top diplomats in the US. At 36 and with no previous government experience, President Trump's son-in-law has become a key channel of communication between the White House and Beijing. But he's a novice on the most complex bilateral relationship in the world, and until last week his family's real estate business was pursuing a significant investment from a politically connected Chinese company. Those negotiations have now been suspended amid suggestions of a potential conflict of interest, but some observers still worry that he may be vulnerable to China's master negotiators and mistake a short-term gain for long-term US advantage. 
 
 The leader of North Korea managed to overshadow a visit to Asia last month by the new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. On that occasion it was the carefully timed announcement of a new rocket engine. No one is in any doubt that North Korea's bid for nuclear missiles which can reach American soil will loom large over this summit. But to prevent the world's inattention even for a moment, Kim Jong-un test fired a missile on the eve of President Xi's arrival in Florida. 
 
 Read more: North Korea's missile programme 
 
 And the lower key presence of the first ladies Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan. As fashion model and folk singer respectively, both were familiar with the limelight long before their famous marriages. It will be interesting to watch the first ladies attempt to engage without upstaging the husbands. 
 
 For all President Xi's fine talk of openness and globalisation, the US market is currently open to Chinese goods and services in a way that China's is not. Beijing has repeatedly promised to remove import barriers, and as this is in the interests of China's long term growth, there really ought to be room for progress here. 
 
 President Trump will have to avoid shouting, sulking and abuse. Chinese protocol will simply not tolerate it. 
 
 The slogans that China likes: "One China" and "One Belt, One Road". The former is the formulation which frames a fragile US-China understanding on how to avoid going to war over Taiwan. The latter is China's massive infrastructure and development initiative for Asia. After initially threatening to re-examine relations with Taiwan, President Trump committed to the "One China Policy" in a phone call with President Xi in February. But there is no fixed US position on "One Belt, One Road" and President Trump is highly unlikely to sign up to President Xi's other favourite slogan the 'new model of great power relations' by which China signals its hopes for an Asian sphere of influence. 
 
 The American ghost at the summit feast. The pivot to Asia was the slogan of the first Obama administration eight years ago, a vision of a United States firmly embedded in Asia with the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement underpinning a mesh of American security alliances. In Mr Obama's second term, the pivot to Asia was rebranded the rebalance, but with President Trump's decision to walk away from TPP, both pivot and rebalance are history. Even some US security alliances in Asia are looking less than solid in face of the rise of China and its vigorous cheque book diplomacy. If President Trump wants to hang onto allies like the Philippines and Thailand he urgently needs an Asia policy as well as a China policy. In fact, it's hard to define the latter without the former. 
 
 The Trump administration talks tough on China, but when it comes to actually engaging, it is in the same quandary as every previous US administration since the US and China restored diplomatic relations four decades ago - how to exert leverage on Beijing without damaging itself or its allies. 
 
 But also for rivalry and risk. In just a few brief hours together over a dinner and a lunch, can the two presidents build enough personal rapport to cut through the strategic rivalry and mistrust which risk the future of the world's most important bilateral relationship? 
 
 The South China Sea. President Trump does not want to accept China's audacious island-building and militarisation as a fait accompli but President Xi will certainly not back down to a summit threat. And if the new US president is silent on the subject of the South China Sea, some allies may see it as a signal of willingness to surrender control of these vital waters to Beijing. So what to say about the South China Sea? 
 
 Read more: South China Sea dispute 
 
 And tariffs and Twitter. And also for Thucydides Trap, the theory that a rising power causes fear in an established power which then escalates toward war. Xi Jinping actually discussed the Thucydides trap at the 2015 summit with Barack Obama. On that occasion, there was no agreement on how to avoid it. Most would agree that the rise of the rising power and the fear of the established power have only increased in the interim. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What are the contentious issues around US-China trade? 
 
 Read more: Is Trump wise to take on China over trade? 
 
 This week President Trump said the US would solve the problem of a nuclear North Korea on its own if China was unwilling to help. In the first instance, dealing with the problem may mean secondary sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals who trade with North Korea. And as a last resort, it may mean the threat of pre-emptive US military action against Pyongyang. It's a discussion which will get President Xi's full attention but it seems unlikely that he and his host can agree on what constitutes Chinese "help with North Korea" let alone how much of it would be enough. 
 
 US presidents often use summits to remind their Chinese communist counterparts of the virtues of democracy, human rights and freedom. But President Trump may choose to remain silent on values. 
 
 The new US secretary of state gratified President Xi last month when on a visit to Beijing. He used the Chinese formulation "non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation" to describe US-China ties. President Xi would dearly love to hear President Trump echo this language. Despite all the name calling from Mr Trump over the past year, the Chinese president and his state-controlled media have stuck to mild appeals to reason and common interest in framing the US-China narrative. Vanilla is President Xi's favourite flavour here and if he can persuade President Trump to tweet bland he will call it a triumph. 
 
 At home, the Chinese president is in the sensitive run up to a Communist Party Congress at which he wants to install key allies in top positions. The last thing he needs is a trade war with a vital export market, especially as China's economic growth is slowing. A standoff in the South China Sea or on the Korean peninsula would be even worse. President Xi needs his relationship with President Trump to work. And he needs to go home calling this summit a success. 
 
 Read more: The ever-growing power of Xi Jinping 
 
 … hmmm… not sure. Any suggestions? 
 
 As in zero sum game. If President Trump takes a zero sum attitude towards the US trade balance with China, and if President Xi takes a zero sum attitude towards the US role in Asia then their summitry will swiftly sour and all talk of winners will look hollow. ||||| The prevailing wisdom of the United States’ economic relationship with China is that China holds the cards, but the situation is not as clear as pundits would lead us to believe. 
 
 It is true that when President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday and Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort, he needs to extract agreements on key issues like North Korea and trade, but Trump does have the upper hand to a great extent. 
 
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 If you examine the trade deficit between U.S. and China, currently at $347 billion, you’ll see that it has remained stable as a percentage of gross national product in recent years. It is out of balance, yes, but it does not present a problem to the U.S. economy if it remains at 6 percent of GDP. 
 
 In terms of the value of the U.S. dollar, the trade deficit with China has not caused a decline. The dollar, being a global currency, is needed by most countries, including China, to act as a stabilizing force. 
 
 More than 60 percent of U.S. dollars are circulated outside the United States and this money will never return. In fact, the trade deficit with China and the dollar are not directly related. 
 
 From the trade point of view, China actually depends on the U.S. more than the U.S. relies on China. While our exports are mainly in the financial services industry — banking, insurance, investments, etc. — and large commodities, like planes produced by companies like Boeing, China is an exporter of consumer goods purchased largely by Americans. 
 
 In recent years, the Chinese economy has slowed. It’s not as stable as that of the U.S. China needs the U.S. dollar as its reserve currency in order to stabilize its economy, and it wants to continue to be able to export commodities to the U.S. 
 
 When Apple produces iPhones and other products in China, most of its parts are produced elsewhere and imported to China for assembly. Without other countries (including the U.S.) supplying those parts and without U.S. consumers buying the phones, the Chinese would be in a poor financial position. 
 
 Further, U.S. consumers depend on the inexpensive goods they buy from China, from apparel to household items and electronics. Without those cheap prices, individuals and companies would be hard-pressed to find similar products while still balancing their own budgets. 
 
 President Trump, despite popular belief, enters today’s talks in a position of power, but he certainly does have to establish a good working relationship with President Xi to maintain current economic levels and to do good in other parts of the world. 
 
 Trump should negotiate with China to open Chinese markets for more foreign investment; free capital flow to and from China (China has imposed restrictions on foreign exchange); and limit subsidies to China's state-owned companies in order to meet WTO requirements. 
 
 First and foremost, we don’t want a trade dispute with China. Such an issue might cause the Chinese to boycott Boeing and other large international companies. Any disruption with Apple’s production and the global supply chain would hurt several economies and Americans would see an almost immediate increase in the cost of smart phones. 
 
 The U.S. would like to increase the amount of goods it exports to China, and President Trump could impress that fact on President Xi. China does create obstacles making it somewhat difficult for American companies to operate there. That should be a focus of the discussions. 
 
 The U.S. would also like the Chinese to minimize trade barriers. Trump needs to impress upon them the importance of following the trade guidelines of the World Trade Organization. 
 
 Finally, the United States' relationship with North Korea and its nuclear weapons program has huge economic implications. China could — and should — play a major role in reversing the threat posed by North Korean President Kim Jong-un. 
 
 China has far more leverage there than other countries, and it should be pressuring North Korea to end its nuclear program and stop firing missiles. Only then, could sanctions against North Korea be lifted, leading to an even better world economy. 
 
 There is no doubt that China and the U.S. should be partners, from an economic perspective and as protectors of global peace. As China's role in the world economy continues to increase, it should play a bigger role in stabilizing economies, first in the Pacific Rim countries and then throughout the world. 
 
 It is incumbent on President Trump to lead China to that position. 
 
 Tenpao Lee, Ph. D., is the interim dean of the College of Business Administration at Niagara University. He is a professor and Fulbright scholar. 
 
 The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill. ||||| PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping urged cooperation with the United States on trade and investment on Thursday, inviting President Donald Trump to visit China in a cordial start to their first meeting likely to broach sensitive security and commercial issues. 
 
 Trump has said he wants to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and press Xi to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions during his two-day visit to the Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, though no major deals on either issue are expected. 
 
 The two sides should promote the “healthy development of bilateral trade and investment” and advance talks on a bilateral investment agreement, Xi said, according to a statement on China’s Foreign Ministry website. 
 
 “We have a thousand reasons to get China-U.S. relations right, and not one reason to spoil the China-U.S. relationship,” Xi told Trump. 
 
 Trump accepted Xi’s invitation to China later this year, state news agency Xinhua news agency cited officials as saying on Friday. 
 
 Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, joined Trump and his wife, Melania, at a long table in an ornate candle-lit private dining room festooned with red and yellow floral centerpieces, where they dined on pan-seared Dover sole and New York strip steak. 
 
 Trump, a New York real estate magnate before he ran for office, joked before dinner: “We’ve had a long discussion already, and so far I have gotten nothing, absolutely nothing. But we have developed a friendship - I can see that - and I think long term we are going to have a very, very great relationship and I look very much forward to it.” 
 
 The fanfare over the summit on Thursday was overshadowed by another pressing foreign policy issue: the U.S. response to a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. As Trump and Xi were wrapping up dinner, U.S. forces fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase from which it said the chemical weapons attack was launched this week, an escalation of the U.S. military role in Syria that swiftly drew sharp criticism from Russia. 
 
 In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry urged all parties in Syria to find a political settlement. 
 
 Trump and Xi were expected to get into more detailed discussions about trade and foreign policy issues on Friday, concluding their summit with a working lunch. 
 
 Related Coverage Trump says progress made in U.S.-China relations during Xi visit 
 
 Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory in November and Trump wants to deliver for them. 
 
 “We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Trump told reporters ahead of the meeting. 
 
 The bilateral investment treaty mentioned by Xi, talks on which began during former president George W. Bush’s administration and resumed under Barack Obama, has received little attention since Trump took office. 
 
 Trump is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principle of reciprocity.” 
 
 He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. 
 
 “Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting. 
 
 Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who both work at the White House, also were among the dinner guests. 
 
 DIFFERING PERSONALITIES 
 
 The summit brings together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence. 
 
 What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president. 
 
 President Trump and First Lady Melania welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 
 
 “Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said. 
 
 The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan. 
 
 North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States. 
 
 Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang. 
 
 “I think China will be stepping up,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can. 
 
 The White House is reviewing options to pressure Pyongyang economically and militarily, including “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang. 
 
 A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 
 
 Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there. 
 
 NO GRAND BARGAIN ON TRADE 
 
 On trade, U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi. 
 
 “President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union. 
 
 Slideshow (12 Images) 
 
 A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits. 
 
 “I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade,” a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. 
 
 Trump has often complained Beijing undervalues its currency to boost trade, but his administration looks unlikely to formally label China a currency manipulator in the near term - a designation that could come with penalties. ||||| Why Trump won't play golf with Chinese leader at Mar-a-Lago this weekend 
 
 CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share Protesters lined roadways outside a hotel where Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to stay when he visits President Donald Trump on Thursday. (April 6) AP 
 
 PALM BEACH, Fla. — The last time President Trump met with a world leader at his winter retreat at Mar-a-Lago, golf was a key component of his resort diplomacy. 
 
 In February, Trump played a round with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and four-time major tournament champion Ernie Els at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla. 
 
 That won't happen this week. Chinese President Xi Jinping's disdain for golf is almost as intense as Abe's love of the game. 
 
 It's safe to say there will not be any golf, said a senior national security official who briefed reporters about Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit this week. The two leaders might walk around, the official said, but there will not be anything formal or anything involving golf clubs. 
 
 The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues. 
 
 Like golf. 
 
 Xi has ordered hundreds of golf courses to be shut down in communist China, where the solitary and individual sport is seen as a symbol of corruption, cronyism and the excesses of capitalism. He's trying to turn China into an international soccer powerhouse, extolling the values of teamwork and national pride. 
 
 Trump sees golf as an important foreign policy tool. And while he was frequently critical of President Barack Obama's golf weekends, he says his use of the game is different. 
 
 "I always said about President Obama, it's great to play golf, but play golf with heads of countries," Trump said after golfing with Abe in February. "Don't play with your friends that you play with every week. That doesn't help." 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2oNxoeS ||||| PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Trump administration is planning to roll out its first concrete measures against China on trade, administration officials said on Thursday, hardening its position toward America’s largest trading partner just as President Trump welcomed President Xi Jinping of China to his seaside club here for their first face-to-face meeting. 
 
 Sometime after Mr. Xi leaves the United States, these officials said, Mr. Trump plans to sign an executive order targeting countries that dump steel into the American market, an aggressive measure aimed mainly at China. 
 
 It is unclear exactly what the order would do or how harsh it would be, but it would be designed to begin to make good on Mr. Trump’s promise during the campaign to redress China’s huge trade surplus with the United States. 
 
 In addition, an official said, the White House is moving out a senior economy policy official, Andrew Quinn, who had helped negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, former President Barack Obama’s signature trade initiative. ||||| In stark contrast to the Chinese leader’s unchallenged authority, Donald Trump is in a far weaker position 
 
 At a secretive gathering of the Chinese Communist party’s most senior officials, a room-full of middle aged men in dark suits convened under a gold hammer and sickle and raised their hands in unison to declare president Xi Jinping the country’s “core�? leader. 
 
 The meeting last October elevated Xi to a level comparable with that of the country’s revolutionary leader Mao Zedong – and demonstrated just how successful the president has been at consolidating his control of the world’s most populous country. 
 
 This week Xi will travel to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for a meeting that will set the tone for one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships. 
 
 Trump says US will act alone on North Korea if China fails to help Read more 
 
 But in stark contrast to Xi’s unchallenged authority, Donald Trump is in a far weaker position, with his administration entangled in investigations into alleged ties with Russia and unable to deliver so far the policies he promised. 
 
 The US president will also need to reassure longstanding allies, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, who are wary of China’s rapid rise and have relied on the US to counter China’s influence in the region. 
 
 
 
 ‘China is stable, the US is divided’ 
 
 “Trump’s team is very anxious, they are facing a lot of resistance at home with Congress and protests,�? said Zhang Haibin, a professor of international relations at Peking University in Beijing. “The two leaders’ domestic political situation isn’t the same: Xi Jinping is ‘the core’ and China is very stable. Trump has yet to establish his authority in the US and is facing a divided society.�? 
 
 Trump’s China strategy has yet to fully form, and the US administration is severely lacking in Asia experts, Zhang added. 
 
 Ahead of the meeting with Xi, Trump has set the stage for a major confrontation over trade and security issues. Trump used Twitter to predict discussions would be “very difficult�? and on Sunday the Financial Times published an interview where Trump chastised China for failing to do enough to rein in North Korea’s nuclear program. 
 
 “I think the president has been pretty clear in messaging about how important it is for China to coordinate with the United States and for China to begin exerting its considerable economic leverage to bring about a peaceful resolution to that problem,�? a senior US official said. 
 
 The official noted that just under 90% of North Korea’s external trade is with China. 
 
 “So even though we hear that China’s political influence may have diminished, clearly its economic leverage has not. It is considerable,�? he added. “We would like to work on North Korea together. We have spent 20 years of trying pretty much everything to bring about a safe and denuclearised peninsular so this is in some ways a test of the relationship.�? 
 
 US says it has 'spoken enough about North Korea' after new missile launch Read more 
 
 Although the Trump administration has declared the efforts of earlier administrations a failure, and promised a new approach, the attempt to cajole China into putting more pressure on its impoverished and troublesome neighbour by more rigorous implementation of existing UN sanctions represents a continuation of the Obama administration’s policies. 
 
 Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and others in the administration have used the line “all options are on the table�?, and senior officials talked on Tuesday night about “the clock running out�? on diplomacy. But most military analysts say any preventative or punitive strike against Pyongyang could have disastrous consequences with devastating North Korean firepower falling on Seoul and a possible use of the regime’s nuclear warheads. 
 
 Trump has made clear he wants concessions on reducing the US trade deficit with China and more cooperation on controlling North Korea, but Xi has made no demands – in part because he has already wrangled political concessions from the US. 
 
 Soon after his election victory in November, Trump said he could use the status of Taiwan – a self-ruled democracy that China claims as part of its territory – as a bargaining chip. But in his first phone call with Xi, he agreed to uphold the “One China�? policy – the diplomatic understanding by which Washington does not challenge China’s claim to the territory. 
 
 “Xi does not need to get very much, the mere fact of the meeting looks good and will play well domestically in China,�? said Bonnie Glaser, the director of the China power project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies thinktank in Washington. 
 
 “It demonstrates he has a good relationship with the new president and can maintain a stable relationship with the US. Xi doesn’t have any big asks, whereas Trump does.�? 
 
 Xi is likely to steer clear of any issues that will anger Trump, having drawn from the lesson of a call between Trump and the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, where discussions over resettling refugees ended with Trump reportedly cutting the call short. 
 
 The Chinese president is currently preparing for a critical Communist party meeting later this year that will see a reshuffle among the country’s leaders, and he is unlikely to make major economic reforms until after that. In the interim Xi will likely come to Mar-a-Lago with business deals that create jobs or reduce the amount of steel being dumped in the US. 
 
 Since China does not have specific goals for the meeting, it is largely a fact-finding mission and a chance for Xi to show he can stand up to Trump’s tough talk. 
 
 “China needs to understand the attitude of the United States, Trump’s real intentions, and use that to form the basis of developing relations,�? Li Yonghui, an expert on US-China relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University. “Right now there’s a lot of uncertainty in the relationship, and both countries need to find some common ground in this meeting. 
 
 “In economic terms, China may make certain concessions, but it’s still unclear how far China will go.�? 
 
 ‘There will be no golf’ 
 
 Trump’s decision to host the Chinese leader at his country club – as opposed to the more formal setting of Washington – reflected a desire to hold frank talks with his Chinese counterpart, Li said. 
 
 Trump's golf diplomacy lands in the rough ahead of Xi Jinping meeting Read more 
 
 “There will be time particularly on the first day for them to get to know one another in a more informal interaction as well as a dinner,�? a senior US official said. However, Xi’s lack of interest in Trump’s favourite sport meant the US president will not be able to indulge in his usual icebreaking routine. 
 
 “I think its safe to say there will be no golf,�? the official said. “It’s possible that they will walk around a bit as the mood strikes, but nothing formal and nothing involving golf clubs.�? 
 
 But there is already some common ground between the two leaders. 
 
 “Both these guys are strong willed people and overly self confident,�? Glaser said. 
 
 Trump’s administration has already demonstrated a preference for informal networks of trusted advisers – a tendency that mirrors China’s own political culture. 
 
 Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly has a good relationship with Chinese officials and helped arrange this week’s summit, and he is generally considered far more influential on foreign policy than secretary of state Rex Tillerson. 
 
 Anbang Insurance Group, a firm with close ties to Beijing’s political elite, was widely reported to be in talks to invest $4bn with Kushner and his family’s real estate company, but the deal collapsed amid ethics concerns. 
 
 “Chinese people love nepotism, we’re very good at it,�? Zhang said. “Chinese people have been using social networks and influential relationships to facilitate business and political dealings for thousands of years.�? 
 
 While Xi has tried to avoid signs of nepotism as he undertakes a widespread anti-corruption campaign, reports have emerged that his family members became wealthy as he rose through the ranks. 
 
 In many ways the first meeting between the two leaders could come to define how the US and China define their respective roles in the world: many US allies fear Trump is simply uninterested in leading the liberal order as the US has done for decades. Xi on the other hand makes no effort to hide the fact he wants China to upend that order. 
 
 “The two have very different ambitions: Xi Jinping has global ambitions to lead the world and Trump is still stuck at the national level,�? Zhang said. 
 
 Additional reporting by Wang Zhen ||||| This is the most important meeting of the year: Donald Trump meets his predecessor Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago and the worst case scenarios are obvious. First, Trump and Xi won't agree on North Korea. Second Trump will tell China the days of being a mega surplus country with the United States are done. They better start cutting their own tariffs, lower barriers to entry, or face import duties here. That's the worst case scenario. 
 
 "I think any negative consequences of a meeting will be a few unhappy headlines and a little bit of a dip in sentiment in China, but no concrete impact on China or its economy," says Andy Rothman, an investment strategist with Matthews Asia, one of the oldest China-focused mutual funds in the U.S. "If they market sells off, it will be fleeting. And if valuations in stock prices fall , I will see it as a good reason to buy China for long term investors." 
 
 Investors expect North Korea to be the main geopolitical issue. No one knows precisely what Trump is thinking on North Korea, or how he would react. China keeps the U.S. honest. And it keeps Trump from lobbing missiles into North Korea to gun down nuclear missile testing grounds. This would have a deep impact on the market, of course, but that's merely a thinking-out-loud doomsday scenario. 
 
 On trade, Trump has said that surplus countries like China, Germany and Japan are on notice. Xi will have to take this call seriously. 
 
 On Wednesday, J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said Trump was right on China's trade policies. Despite being held up as the poster boy of globalization at the World Economic Forum, everyone knows that outside of political posturing, the reality is that China is bad on intellectual property, bad on cybersecurity, and has a relatively closed economy that keeps companies out or forces companies to partner with their future Chinese competitors. 
 
 The presidential meet-and-greet will put U.S.-China relations in the spotlight. Investors have already been returning to the market. 
 
 Mike Holland, chairman of investment firm Holland & Company, told CNBC this morning that he has more in China equities this year than he had last year. 
 
 China bear Carl Wong has also come out of hibernaton. The senior money manager at Hong Kong-based Nexus Investment Advisors says it is time to buy China. 
 
 “This is like a Goldilocks period for China,” Wong told Bloomberg. He is a bond investor. “You have a new growth phase, people are willing to invest money, inflation is very modest and people’s sentiment is improving because of political stability.” 
 
 Meanwhile in San Francisco, Rothman thinks there is a chance for a "great meeting" of the minds in Florida today and tomorrow. But like Jamie Dimon said yesterday, he is not going to bet his company on it. 
 
 "A great outcome would be no fireworks on North Korea and China doesn't get angry with Trump on trade," he says. "We really have to prepare for the unexpected. Trump harbors a lot of animosity for China so anything can happen today."
– President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived separately at Palm Beach International Airport on Thursday, causing major traffic headaches for locals, but more importantly heading to Mar-a-Lago to meet for the first time, the Palm Beach Post reports. While Trump is warning everyone to temper expectations for the meeting—a prelude to more serious discussions down the road, he says—it's unlikely the visit will end without both presidents addressing North Korea and trade. Here's what else you need to know: Trump wants to be aggressive with Xi during their first private meeting, especially when it comes to North Korea and the trade deficit, the New York Times reports. But just how aggressive is a matter of "fierce debate" among White House advisers. Reuters reports that the two presidents couldn't have more different personalities, and the biggest concern among the Chinese is that the "stormy" Trump will do something to publicly embarrass the "measured" Xi. In an impressive gimmick, the BBC literally runs down the ABCs of the Trump-Xi meeting. For example B is for "bashing" while Z is for "zero sum game." (It couldn't come up with anything for Y, though.) USA Today reports there will be no golf played during Xi's visit to Mar-a-Lago. The Chinese president hates golf, believing it represents "corruption, cronyism, and the excesses of capitalism." Contrary to popular belief, Trump actually has the upper hand in this week's meeting, according to the Hill. Not true, argues the Guardian, which reports Xi "holds all the cards." While the meeting between Xi and Trump isn't expected to have an impact on financial markets, one investment strategist tells Forbes "anything can happen" thanks to Trump's well-known "animosity for China."