

Xi Jinping’s first ever state visit to the United States, expected to take place on Sept. 24-25, is going to be preceded by a short, meeting-filled pit stop in Seattle that begins Sept. 22. While at the White House Xi is expected to talk everything from cyber-security to climate change, the Seattle visit sounds like it will be strictly business—pairing Seattle-based companies Microsoft $MSFT, Amazon $AMZN, and Boeing $BA with China. Here’s a brief roundup of Xi’s expected agenda:
In February, Chinese anti-trust suits forced Qualcomm $QCOM to pay $975 million for allegedly charging unfairly high licensing fees for its chips. Many US-based tech firms have expressed concerns over a proposed law in China that would require foreign companies to provide the Chinese government with “back-doors” to any hardware or software they hope to sell there.
Meanwhile, China’s state-affiliated Tsinghua Group has made a high-profile bid for Idaho-based memory chip maker Micron $MU. If formally accepted, the deal could get swiftly swatted by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), signaling to China its presence isn’t welcome on US soil.
There will be plenty for Xi to talk about with Seattle’s tech executives. Over the past year tensions have mounted between the US and China over digital technology, both in the private sector and national security.