Chian and US struggling to manage Trump-Xi meeting
The big issues in China-US talks are stuck and may only be broke by a Trump-Xi meeting. However China is reluctant to schedule a visit to the US on the trade topic alone because they fear that Trump could deliver a surprise and force Xi to walk away and lose face.
China is now floating that idea of an official state visit which would be much more complicated but would allow them to have a broader agenda.
Chinese officials have also suggested Xi visit Houston to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's 1979 visit to Texas following the two countries' joint communique. Xi's last state visit, in September 2015, included stops in Washington, in Seattle to meet business executives, and in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly.
It's unclear how receptive the White House has been to China's proposal - described as informal - to combine the state visit with a trade announcement.
