BEIJING — Countries that have shunned China in their trade dispute with the United States are now sending leaders to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and are keen to strike business deals.

At least five world leaders visited Xi in January alone, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Uruguayan President Armandou Orsi will visit next week, the first trip by a South American leader since U.S. President Donald Trump captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in early January.

The visits by the leaders of Canada and the United Kingdom are the first in at least eight years, while the visit of the Irish Prime Minister on January 5 is the first in 14 years. China closed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic and did not actually reopen them until early 2023.

“These visits reflect a managed and selective reset amid rising U.S. policy uncertainty, rather than a shift in strategic focus towards China,” said Su Yue, chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“There is a growing consensus that keeping lines of communication open with Beijing is preferable to disengagement, especially as the benefits of a selective reopening with China become more apparent and U.S. policy becomes increasingly unpredictable,” she said.

Since taking office 12 months ago, Trump has imposed tariffs not only on China but also on many U.S. trading partners. In recent months, he has stepped up efforts to boost U.S. influence Venezuela, Iran and Greenland.

This is an opportunity for Beijing as it seeks to portray itself not only as a partner to developing countries but also as a stabilizing force in the world.

“Keeping their distance from the United States shows that these countries value their ties to China’s huge economy,” Cui Shoujun, an international studies professor at Renmin University of China, said in a telephone interview Thursday. That’s according to CNBC’s translation of his Mandarin remarks.

Cui Tiankai said Europe and other countries may still need to align with the United States on security issues, but they are now increasing economic engagement.

Delegations from large businesses often accompany national leaders on state visits. Nearly 60 British companies and cultural organizations Send representatives to accompany the British Prime Minister on his visit to China. British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca Use state visit to announce investment plans By 2030, China will reach $15 billion.

Likewise, during Carney’s visit, Canada agreed cut tariffs Increase tariffs on a limited number of Chinese-made electric vehicles from 100% to 6.1% in exchange for lower Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola.

Global companies have also long been keen to sell products to China, the world’s second-largest consumer market.

Chinese leaders urge visiting countries to create a fair environment for Chinese companies to operate or invest locally. As domestic economic growth slows, many Chinese companies, including electric car makers, have accelerated their global expansion plans.

Beijing has become increasingly clear about its commitment to achieving technological self-sufficiency and maintaining its position on the global stage.

Earlier this month, the head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s international affairs department official party newspaper China’s modernization drive has broken the “West-centered” model and provided new options for developing countries.

The five countries visited by leaders in January – Ireland, South Korea, Canada and Finland – have a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $8.71 trillion so far, less than half of China’s GDP of $18.74 trillion. World Bank data 2024. The United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) is still much larger at $28.75 trillion.

China was the first major economy to retaliate against Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025. The two countries reached a fragile one-year trade truce in late October, and Trump is expected to visit China in April.

On Thursday night, during Starmer’s visit, the American Chamber of Commerce in China hosted a thank-you dinner in Beijing that included Chinese representatives. In his opening remarks, Chairman James Zimmerman urged Trump and Xi to work together on a vision for global stability.

Zimmerman said the two leaders could meet as many as four times this year, marking “an unmissable moment of continued leadership and meaningful progress.”

One opportunity for Trump and Xi to meet and draw other world leaders to China is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, which China is hosting this year. The APEC forum is scheduled to hold a meeting of senior officials in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou early next month, followed by a meeting of major economic leaders in November.

But visiting leaders still must maintain a delicate balance when dealing with China.

This week, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canada if Ottawa “A deal” with China and say this is ‘Very dangerous’ for UK Doing business with China. In order to respect European industrial interests, French President Emmanuel Macron Threaten China with tariffs The day after he returned from a state visit last December.

“These visits are a hedging strategy,” said Jack Lee, a foreign affairs analyst at consulting firm China Macro Group.

“They keep the China channel open as a way to preserve strategic options,” he said. But he warned that trust, especially between the EU and Beijing, remained limited.