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Inside the trade team that will accompany Donald Trump to the G20 summit meeting with Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump is expected to bring a team of nine aides to Buenos Aires for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, though it is not known whether all nine will sit down at the dinner table with Xi on Saturday evening, according to a source who was briefed on the situation.

In addition to the last-minute inclusion of Peter Navarro, the chief trade adviser to Trump and a notorious China trade hawk, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Matt Pottinger, the senior director for Asian affairs on the American National Security Council who had worked in China as a journalist, are expected to be part of the team accompanying Trump to the G20 summit meeting.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, pictured on November 17, will be a member of US President Donald Trump's team for the G20 meetings in Argentina. Photo: AFP

The other six aides on the list are White House chief of staff John Kelly, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The key representatives in the Chinese delegation remain unknown. However, according to the past protocols of Xi's diplomatic summit meetings, the president could bring his chief of staff, Ding Xuexiang; his top diplomat, Yang Jiechi; foreign minister Wang Yi; and commerce minister Zhong Shan, in addition to Liu He, the vice-premier in charge of trade talks with the US.

US tells China: we want competition ... but also cooperation

Trump and Xi's high-stakes dinner will be closely watched as its outcome could shape the world's future economic trajectory.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2018. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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