Ahead of Chariman Xi’s visit to Washington DC for a state visit on September 24th and 25th, Reuters is reporting that China has asked Iran to halt all strikes on Saudi Arabia oil fields.

The request from China carries a self-interest as China’s oil dependencies have become problematic since the Strait of Hormuz became a point of economic friction between Iran and U.S. military forces. The Saudi East/West pipeline was also hit by Iranian backed Houthi rebels from Yemen, creating even more energy turmoil.

Additionally, Beijing is the most exposed to the recent congressional sanctions applied toward countries that retain trade relations with Russia.

Both President Trump and Chairman Xi have a vested interest in seeing an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. However, with EU-NATO still provoking expanded conflict the dynamic has become one of middle-powers (Canada, U.K, EU) against significant energy powers China, USA and Saudi Arabia.

Another way to look at it is the coalition of Green Energy nations -vs- Low Cost energy nations.

The U.K, Canada and Europe have been supporting attacks against gasoline and diesel fuel refineries in Russia. This approach appears to contain a political motivation to drive up gas/diesel prices in the USA as part of an anti-Trump election strategy. The state visit by Chairman Xi comes at a critical time in the global energy dynamic.

HOUSTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Friday after China, acting on a request from Saudi Arabia, asked Iran to limit attacks by Houthi rebels on Saudi oil infrastructure that have threatened a second oil export route in the Middle East.

[…] State-run Saudi Aramco has told at least two European refining customers they will receive no crude oil next month following an attack on Saudi Arabia’s key pipeline to the Red Sea, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Three pumping stations serving the East-West Pipeline in Saudi Arabia were damaged in an attack last week — one more than assessed previously — with a repair timeline unclear, according to satellite imagery and three industry sources. 

Saudi Arabia is seeking to restore about half the capacity of the East-West oil pipeline within days, though sources interviewed by Reuters have given varying estimates of how long it will take to reopen the pipeline and return crude flows to normal.

“The key question is whether physical flows can normalise and what the timeline could be. If we see a sustained improvement in Hormuz traffic, some of the geopolitical premium can unwind further,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip ⁠Nova. (read more)

Obviously, the visit by Chairman Xi will include significant discussions on the topic of energy and AI.

Tech CEOs attending President Trump’s state dinner for Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping next week now includes: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Michael Dell, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Jane Fraser and Tim Cook according to White House officials. 

President Trump is expected to welcome Chairman Xi at the airport upon arrival.  This is an expression of great respect by President Trump toward the relationship he carries with Xi Jinping.

Sept. 23: Trump greets Xi & his wife Peng Liyuan on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.

Sept. 24: White House arrival ceremony, a military review in the Rose Garden, a bilateral meeting and a State Dinner in the East Room.

Sept. 25: Private tea at the White House followed by a tour of the National Archives to view founding documents for America’s 250th anniversary.

A tarmac welcome from a U.S. president is extremely rare. In 1959, for example, President Eisenhower greeted Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at Andrews Air Force Base when the Cold War tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union were high.

During the state banquet on Thursday, U.S tech leader Tim Cook will meet China’s new tech leader (from Xiaomi).  U.S and China innovators will also meet, like OpenAI on the U.S side and BYD autos on the China side.

Last Thursday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone. The discussion would be to ensure that both Trump and Xi were on the same page for meetings between U.S and China business leaders.

It has also been reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng are meeting this weekend in New York, likely to discuss the finance sector, and collaborative energy sector deals for Trump and Xi to announce.