President Xi Jinping is preparing a large business delegation for his September 24 summit in Washington, an unusual step as Chinese companies face increasing scrutiny from the United States and Beijing maintains strained ties with private enterprise. The delegation is intended partly to signal China’s support for investment and commercial ties while potentially giving the White House economic gains ahead of midterm elections, one source said. Reuters could not determine which executives would attend. Xi last brought a sizeable corporate contingent to the United States in 2015, when China signed a $38 billion agreement for 300 Boeing aircraft and he met technology leaders including Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. The planned delegation comes after U.S. measures including a 100% tariff on imported Chinese electric vehicles, bans on foreign drone, router and robot imports, the forced divestiture of TikTok’s U.S. operations, and restrictions on major Chinese technology firms through the Entity List (U.S. list of national-security threats) and a Pentagon blacklist. Expectations for the summit remain modest. Three sources said the Board of Investment is unlikely to produce significant deliverables because of the difficult U.S. environment for Chinese investment, while Beijing and Washington remain divided over which products should qualify as non-sensitive under the Board of Trade. About 10 categories are under discussion. The United States is also seeking more rare-earth export licenses for American companies and progress on trade commitments, while China has pressed for further tariff relief. U.S. officials said the countries would make announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers, and senior officials from both sides are due to meet in early September to discuss summit deliverables.