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SCMP Reporter

The first summit between President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump takes place at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida this week and officials responsible for formulating their nations’ foreign policies will be put under the spotlight. The two leaders are expected to tackle a range of issues from North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme to trade disputes. Here are some of the key members of both leaders’ teams of advisers.
XI JINPING:
Yang Jiechi, State Councillor
An experienced diplomat, Yang has quietly risen to the top position overseeing the country’s international policies. Yang, who outranks Foreign Minister Wang Yi, has often played an important role as China sought to ease tensions amid international disputes.
Yang is believed to have played a central role in preparations for the summit between Xi and Trump. He was a key advocate for an early meeting between the two presidents.
The man behind the Xi-Trump summit
Wang Yi, Foreign Minister
Wang is China’s ­second highest-ranking diplomat and oversees the foreign ministry. He was formerly China’s ­ambassador to Japan and director of the State Council’s ­Taiwan Affairs Office. 
Wang said in his press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress last month that despite initial widespread concerns over Sino-US ties during Trump’s first days in office, relations were “transitioning steadily and developing in a positive direction” through close communications.
Top Sino-US push on for Xi-Trump summit
Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to Washington
The Chinese embassy in Washington sensed the urgent need to approach Trump after the US president’s initial harsh rhetoric against China, especially issues regarding Taiwan. After Trump did not send Lunar New Year greetings to China, breaking a tradition established by his predecessors in the White House, the embassy thought inviting his daughter Ivanka Trump for its spring festival reception might build bridges. 
Cui and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, orchestrated a fence-mending phone call between Trump and Xi in February, during which Trump pledged to abide by the one-China policy on Taiwan, The New York Times reported.
Ivanka visit ‘shows China wants to forge close ties with Trump’
Zheng Zeguang, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
Zheng is responsible for US policy in the foreign ministry and was part of the delegation at the Sunnylands summit in California between Xi and Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama in 2013.
Wang Huning, director of the Central Policy Research Unit
As head of the ­Communist Party’s top research office, Wang’s role is a ­combination of national policy ­adviser and chief speech writer. He is seen during almost all key domestic and ­international trips made by President Xi Jinping. He has gained respect among the leadership for the depth of his academic knowledge, political neutrality and cautious approach.
Liu He, director of the General Office of the Central Leading Group on Economic and Financial Affairs
Liu, 65, was promoted to this role four years ago, months before the Communist Party issued a key document outlining economic reforms for the next decade. 
A technocrat, once described by Xi as “very important to me”, Liu has repeatedly emphasised the need for market-oriented reforms. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Li Zhanshu, director of the general office of the Communist Party
Li, 66, is arguably Xi’s most powerful ally after anti-corruption chief Wang Qishan. Li’s ties with Xi go back to the 1980s when Xi governed Zhengding county in Hebei province while Li was in charge of neighbouring Wuji county. As director of the general office, Li is tasked with assisting the president on a range of issues, including diplomacy, the economy and legal reforms.
He is one of the office’s most powerful directors over the past few decades. His predecessors did not have seats on the Politburo. He almost always accompanies the president on domestic and overseas trips.
DONALD TRUMP:
Steve Bannon, White House chief strategist
Probably the most influential adviser to Trump, Bannon was the former executive of the right-wing media outlet media Breitbart News. He was also a former banker at Goldman Sachs banker. He has very strong opinions against China. He said in a radio programme in March last year that China and the US would be at war within the next 10 years over the control of islands in the South China Sea.
Peter Navarro, Chief Trade Adviser
As one of the few economists in Trump’s team, Navarro is a staunch China critic and advocate for an aggressive stance towards Beijing. Navarro has supported tariffs on Chinese goods and described China as a threat to the US economy. He said Beijing’s desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia has triggered warnings for the US.
Jared Kushner, White House senior adviser
The 36-year-old son-in-law of Trump has no previous government experience, but he is viewed by China as a bridge between Beijing and the Trump administration. The Chinese ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, has established a back channel of communication with Kushner, The New York Times reported. 
The two agreed on Mar-a-Lago as the venue for the meeting between Xi and Trump, it said. Kushner passed on proposals from Cui to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who travelled to East Asia in March.
Ivanka Trump, White House adviser
The 35-year-old businesswoman, an unpaid adviser in her father’s administration, played an important role in helping counter her father’s combative approach towards China. She made a surprise visit to the ­Chinese embassy in Washington with her five-year-old daughter, ­Arabella Kushner, in February - which was viewed as a sign that Beijing was establishing contact with members of Trump’s family.
Ivanka Trump – the US president’s new China charmer-in-chief
Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State
The former chief of ExxonMobil has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During his confirmation hearing in January, Tillerson said China should be denied access to disputed islands it has built in the South China Sea. 
However, in his trip to China last month he adopted a more conciliatory tone, repeating phrases such as “mutual respect” and “win-win solutions”, commonly used by Beijing to describe the relationship between the two nations.
Tillerson’s fence-mending trip to China ends in push for common ground
Herbert McMaster, national security adviser
McMaster is a highly regarded military tactician and strategic thinker. He replaced Michael Flynn, a retired army lieutenant general, who resigned as national security adviser on February 13 after reports that he misled Vice-President Mike Pence about speaking to Russia’s ambassador on US sanctions before Trump’s inauguration. McMaster, 54, is a West Point graduate known as “H.R.,” with a PhD in US history from the University of North Carolina. He was listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2014 as one of this century’s pre-eminent “warrior-thinkers”.
Susan Thornton, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs
Thornton accompanied Tillerson in his East Asia trip in March. She is responsible for policy related to China, Mongolia, and Taiwan. A career member of the United States foreign service, she joined the State Department in 1991 and has spent the last twenty years working on US policy focused on the countries of the former Soviet Union and East Asia.
Matt Pottinger, National Security Council, senior director for Asia
Pottinger was nominated by ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn. He also accompanied Tillerson in his East Asia trip in March. Pottinger is a former US Marine captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan after finishing his career in journalism covering China for the Wall Street Journal from 2001 to 2005 and for Reuters from 1998 to 2001. He worked with Flynn closely and co-authored the 2010 report “Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan”.


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Chinese State Counsellor Yang Jiechi played a central role in arranging the summit. Photo: AFP

FILE PHOTO -- Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner watch as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo

(FILES) This file photo taken on March 23, 2017 shows US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prior to a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at the State Department in Washington, DC. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with members of the NATO alliance next week, after initially planning to skip ministerial talks, a spokesman said on March 24, 2017. The State Department was unable to confirm whether the new March 31 meeting in Brussels will replace a planned foreign ministers' meeting that Tillerson will not attend on April 5 and 6. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM

Governor of Heilongjiang province, Li Zhanshu speaks in Heilongjiang HK food processing and business cooperation conference at HKCEC. 18MAY09

epa05660458 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (not pictured) in Beijing, China, 05 December 2016. EPA/GREG BAKER / POOL

Liu He, Vice Minister of China's Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, poses for a portrait in Beijing, China, on Thursday, March 4, 2010. Two days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Liu was sent by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to meet with a group of Harvard University scholars to help shape his country's response. On March 30, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers separately made time for Liu, on the day the Obama administration forced the ouster of General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Liu He

D1H24M China's Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai listens to a question at the 23rd Session of the US China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade conference December 19, 2012 in Washington, DC.

Why protocol still matters at Xi-Trump summit

Florida visit gives Xi another opportunity to promote ‘new type of great power relations’

photo posted on social media by a fellow diner shows aides crowding around Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as he attempts to read documents by cellphone light, as he dines with Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday night. The two leaders had just been told that North Korea had fired a missile towards Japan. Photo: Facebook / HANDOUT

(130608) -- ANNENBERG RETREAT, June 8, 2013 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama (L) presents Chinese President Xi Jinping with a bench made of California redwood while they take a joint walk before heading into their second meeting, at the Annenberg Retreat, California, the United States, June 8, 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama held the second meeting here on Saturday to exchange views on economic ties. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) (xzj)

FILE PHOTO:Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd L) are seen at Trump International Golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 11, 2017. Picture taken February 11, 2017. Cabinet Public Relations Office/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS./File Photo

(130607) -- ANNENBERG RETREAT, June 7, 2013 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (1st R) and U.S. President Barack Obama (1st L) hold a meeting at the Annenberg Retreat, California, the United States, June 7, 2013. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) (hdt)

US President Donald Trump (centre R), Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (centre L), Trump's wife Melania (R) and Abe's wife Akie (L) pose for photograpers before a dinner party in Palm Beach, Florida on February 11, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS / STR / Japan OUT

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they tour the grounds at The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California June 8, 2013. The two-day talks at a desert retreat near Palm Springs, California, was meant to be an opportunity for Obama and Xi to get to know each other, Chinese and U.S. officials have said, and to inject some warmth into often chilly relations while setting the stage for better cooperation. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

Xi Jinping and Barack Obama take a stroll together at Sunnylands in June 2013. Photo: AP

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The key advisers who have their presidents’ ear as the two nations’ heads of state prepare to meet in Florida this week
