China will send Vice President Han Zheng to attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, the first time a senior Chinese leader has witnessed the swearing-in of a U.S. president.

Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders, breaking tradition as foreign leaders traditionally do not attend U.S. presidential inaugurations.

China said it hopes to work with the new U.S. administration to "find the right path for the two countries to get along in the new era."

But Beijing is also preparing for a Trump presidency, with plans expected to include New tariffs imposed on imported products made in China And more offensively, Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio described China as “the largest, most advanced adversary the United States has ever faced.”

As president, Xi Jinping never attended the inauguration or coronation ceremony, instead sending representatives to represent him. China’s ambassador to the United States attended the first two presidential inaugurations in 2017 and 2021.

However, Beijing has sent vice-presidents to attend such ceremonies elsewhere - Han Kuo-yu attended the inauguration of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in October 2023. His predecessor, Wang Qishan, attended the 2022 inauguration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and attended the inauguration of Brazilian President Lula da Silva. 2023.

Xi Jinping’s decision to send Han Kuo-yu to the United States showed that he “wanted to get Trump into transactional mode, but (he) didn’t want to be a supporting actor on the Trump show on January 20,” Neil Thomas said. China Politics Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute.

Other foreign leaders invited to the inauguration include Argentine President Javier Milley and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.

Trump spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt told US media that the invitation to Xi Jinping was "an example of Trump having an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not only our allies, but also our adversaries and competitors." opponent".

Sun Yun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said Trump may also be trying to show the world "that he has the ability to influence Xi Jinping's decision-making and that they have a special relationship."

There were previous reports that some of Trump’s advisers wanted Cai to attend. Tsai, 66, is widely seen as Xi Jinping's right-hand man and is a member of the Communist Party's seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, China's equivalent of the cabinet.

The Financial Times quoted an unnamed insider as saying that Trump would be "unhappy" if the Chinese envoy in attendance was "only at the level of Han Kuo-yu or Wang Yi." The BBC was unable to confirm these claims.

But Zhuang Jiayan, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie University, said that as vice president, Han, 70, occupies a "very senior role in China's state system" and the decision to dispatch him was "in line with Trump's courtesy" to China.

Han Han was appointed Vice President of the country in March 2023. He is known as the "No. 8 figure" and is the highest-ranking leader after the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Han will also remain a member until October 2022, when Xi Jinping begins his historic third term. Appointed his most trusted deputy to the highest office.

Prior to this, Hanguoyu spent most of his political career in Shanghai, where he was born. In 2007, he served as Xi Jinping's assistant when he was the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Secretary, and then took office himself in 2012.

During his tenure as vice president, foreign affairs remained a focus of his attention. He leads a group promoting the Belt and Road Initiative - a major trade and infrastructure project in China - and heads the steering committee for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

But the fact that Han Han is no longer a member of the Politburo Standing Committee may have been a key consideration in Beijing's decision to send him to the Politburo Standing Committee.

"If U.S.-China relations deteriorate from the CCP's perspective, Xi Jinping and the CCP will be able to show that they are keeping some distance from Trump," Professor Zhuang said.

Thomas said it also helps that Han Kuo-yu is not considered part of Xi Jinping's inner circle.

"Xi Jinping trusts Han Guoyu enough to take on this mission, but Hanyu is not a key ally and can safely be blamed if embarrassing mistakes are made."

Additional reporting by Ian Tang, BBC Monitoring