Libmonster ID: IN-2749

The U.S.-China relationship has gone a long way from complete isolation to a complex partnership. Personal meetings between leaders of the two countries played a key role in this history. Below is a full chronology of all visits by sitting U.S. presidents to China, starting with the historic "thaw" in 1972. The list includes both state visits and trips to international summits (APEC, G20).

Chronology of Visits

Richard Nixon (February 21–28, 1972)

Cities: Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai. This was the first visit to the PRC by a sitting U.S. president in history. It ended a 25-year isolation and led to the signing of the Shanghai Communique — a document laying the foundation for the normalization of bilateral relations.

Gerald Ford (December 1–5, 1975)

Cities: Beijing. The visit took place before diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China were established. Ford confirmed the U.S.'s commitment to the principles of the Shanghai Communique.

Ronald Reagan (April 26 – May 1, 1984)

Cities: Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai. The first visit by an American president after the establishment of diplomatic relations (1979). Reagan and his wife Nancy visited the Terracotta Army in Xi'an.

George H.W. Bush (February 25–26, 1989)

Cities: Beijing. The visit took place just a month after his inauguration — the fastest visit in history. Before his presidency, Bush was the head of the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to China.

Bill Clinton (June 25 – July 3, 1998)

Cities: Xi'an, Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Hong Kong. The longest (9 days) and geographically most extensive visit. Clinton delivered a speech at Peking University, which was broadcast throughout China.

George W. Bush (4 visits)

October 2001 — Shanghai (APEC summit), the first foreign visit after the September 11 attacks.
February 2002 — Beijing (working visit, visit to Tsinghua University).
November 2005 — Beijing (official visit).
August 2008 — Beijing (opening ceremony of the Olympic Games).

Barack Obama (3 visits)

November 2009 — Beijing, Shanghai (first visit).
November 2014 — Beijing (APEC summit), the famous "Xiyanghe talks".
September 2016 — Hangzhou (G20 summit), joint walk around Lake Xihua.

Donald Trump (1st term) — November 8–10, 2017

Cities: Beijing. The first state visit after Trump's assumption of office. Trump and Melania visited the Forbidden City and the Beijing Opera.

Current Visit (May 2026)

Donald Trump — second visit (May 13–15, 2026)

The second state visit of President Trump. The previous visit by the U.S. leader to China took place 9 years ago (2017) — the longest gap between visits in the history of the two countries.

Quick Statistics

  • First visit: Richard Nixon (1972).
  • Most frequent visitor: George W. Bush (4 visits).
  • Fastest after inauguration: George H.W. Bush (within 1 month).
  • Longest visit: Bill Clinton (9 days, 5 cities).
  • Longest gap between visits: 9 years (1989–1998) and again 9 years (2017–2026).

© elib.org.in

Permanent link to this publication:

https://elib.org.in/m/articles/view/All-visits-of-US-presidents-to-China

Similar publications: LIndia LWorld Y G


Publisher:

India OnlineContacts and other materials (articles, photo, files etc)

Author's official page at Libmonster: https://elib.org.in/Libmonster

Find other author's materials at: Libmonster (all the World)GoogleYandex

Permanent link for scientific papers (for citations):

All visits of US presidents to China // Delhi: India (ELIB.ORG.IN). Updated: 15.05.2026. URL: https://elib.org.in/m/articles/view/All-visits-of-US-presidents-to-China (date of access: 18.06.2026).

Comments:



Reviews of professional authors
Order by: 
Per page: 
 
  • There are no comments yet
Publisher
India Online
Delhi, India
44 views rating
15.05.2026 (33 days ago)
0 subscribers
Rating
0 votes
Related Articles
Relaxation day and its benefits for health
Catalog: Медицина 
4 hours ago · From India Online
Boundaries of humor at work
Catalog: Этика 
14 hours ago · From India Online
Give us this day our daily bread - what is the meaning of this request?
18 hours ago · From India Online
Social justice: Is it achievable
18 hours ago · From India Online
Ethics of the rich and ethics of the poor: common and particular
Catalog: Этика 
18 hours ago · From India Online
Best airplane parks and airports in the world
20 hours ago · From India Online
Stress resistance of a civil servant
Yesterday · From India Online
Types of mobility
3 days ago · From India Online
Voice of the big city and its reflection in art
3 days ago · From India Online
International Walk Day
Catalog: Лайфстайл 
4 days ago · From India Online

New publications:

Popular with readers:

News from other countries:

ELIB.ORG.IN - Indian Digital Library

Create your author's collection of articles, books, author's works, biographies, photographic documents, files. Save forever your author's legacy in digital form. Click here to register as an author.
Library Partners

All visits of US presidents to China
 

Editorial Contacts
Chat for Authors: IN LIVE: We are in social networks:

About · News · For Advertisers

Indian Digital Library ® All rights reserved.
2023-2026, ELIB.ORG.IN is a part of Libmonster, international library network (open map)
Preserving the Indian heritage


LIBMONSTER NETWORK ONE WORLD - ONE LIBRARY

US-Great Britain Sweden Serbia
Russia Belarus Ukraine Kazakhstan Moldova Tajikistan Estonia Russia-2 Belarus-2

Create and store your author's collection at Libmonster: articles, books, studies. Libmonster will spread your heritage all over the world (through a network of affiliates, partner libraries, search engines, social networks). You will be able to share a link to your profile with colleagues, students, readers and other interested parties, in order to acquaint them with your copyright heritage. Once you register, you have more than 100 tools at your disposal to build your own author collection. It's free: it was, it is, and it always will be.

Download app for Android