US President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

• US President Donald Trump is on a high-stakes visit to China.
• He wants President Xi Jinping to “open up” China to US business.
• But there is potential friction over Taiwan and Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would ask President Xi Jinping to “open up” China to US business when the two meet in Beijing this week for high-stakes talks.

“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!” Trump wrote on social media, referring to US business CEOs accompanying him on the trip.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Tesla boss Elon Musk travelled with Trump on Air Force One to Beijing for the US president’s much-anticipated talks with China’s leader.

The world’s two largest economies are racing to dominate the global AI market, which relies on high-performance chips.

Chinese tech firms are barred from purchasing California-based Nvidia’s most cutting-edge AI chips, under US export rules that Washington says are to protect national security.

READ | China’s tightrope act: Balancing Iran, the Gulf States and US amid Middle East turmoil

Huang boarded Air Force One during a refuelling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, pool reporters saw on Tuesday.

He was not originally on the list of CEOs travelling with Trump, released by the White House earlier this week.

It is the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, as Trump seeks to ramp up trade despite potential friction over Taiwan and Iran.

Leaving Washington on Tuesday on a trip that was delayed by his war, Trump said he expected a “long talk” with counterpart Xi Jinping about Iran, which relies on China as the top customer for its US-sanctioned oil.

But he also played down disagreements on Iran, saying that Xi has been “relatively good, to be honest with you”.

“I don’t think we need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other. We’ll win it peacefully or otherwise,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House.

But in a sign of Beijing’s growing impatience for peace, China’s foreign minister on Tuesday urged his Pakistani counterpart to step up mediation efforts between Iran and the US.

Key mediator Islamabad should “contribute to properly addressing issues related to opening the Strait of Hormuz”, Wang Yi told Ishaq Dar in a phone call, his foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

This week’s trip - the first since Trump visited in 2017 - will involve high-stakes talks with Xi on Thursday and Friday, during a packed itinerary that includes a state banquet and tea reception.

Trump said on Monday that he would speak to Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by China - a departure from historic US insistence that it would not consult Beijing on its support to the island.

China’s controls on rare earth exports and the countries’ raucous trade relationship are among the topics expected to be taken up by the heads of the world’s top two economies.

The tense buildup to the superpower summit was already visible on the streets of Beijing, with police monitoring major intersections and checking the ID cards of passengers on the metro, AFP journalists saw.

“It’s definitely a big deal,” said Wen Wen, a 24-year-old woman travelling from the eastern city of Nanjing, when asked by AFP about Trump’s visit.

“Some progress will certainly be made,” she said, noting that she hoped China and the US could ensure “lasting peace” despite “recent instability in the global situation”.

Trade ties between Beijing and Washington have been fraught in recent years. The two sides are currently maintaining a one-year truce in their tariff war reached at Trump and Xi’s last meeting in South Korea in October.

China’s major surplus in trade with the US has long irked Trump, who slapped tariffs on the country’s goods during his first term in office.

The US Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned 12 individuals and entities - including several based in Hong Kong - it said facilitated sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China.

Asked about the latest moves on Tuesday, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for Beijing’s foreign ministry, said: “China firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions.”

Trump’s trip will be closely scrutinised in Taiwan for any sign of weakening US support.

Trump insisted that his personal relationship with Xi would prevent a Chinese invasion of the island.

“I think we’ll be fine. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don’t want that to happen,” he said.