The US leader landed in Beijing earlier today for talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, including how to avert nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
White House officials said Mr Trump will ask Mr Xi to make good on his commitments to UN sanctions aimed at squeezing the cash flow to Kim Jong-un’s regime and stopping the tyrant’s pursuit of more powerful nuclear weapons.
But experts say although the Chinese premier is likely to lavish the President with praise and lay on an elaborate state visit, China will ultimately reject his demands.
Shen Dingli, professor of international studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said as far as Beijing is concerned, Mr Trump’s trip is more about show than substance.
He told The Times: “For North Korea, there won’t be any substantial progress.
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“It will be brought up but nothing will come out of it.
“And the North Korea nuclear issue is one single problem that will hurt US-China relations.”
Mr Trump was treated to a personal tour of Beijing’s Forbidden City by Mr Xi on the first day of his stopover in China today.
But Mr Shen added the preferential treatment was just part of a “show of Chinese culture” aimed at building mutual respect, rather than a signal the Chinese leader is willing to agree to any the President’s demands.
Ahead of Mr Trump’s arrival in the Chinese capital, a senior White House official told reporters on Air Force One the President would ask Mr Xi to commit to continue enforcing international sanctions against the rogue state.
The official said during the bilateral talks, Mr Trump would ask China cut all financial links with Kim’s oppressive regime.
But Beijing said it was already “fully and strictly” upholding UN sanctions, which are aimed at restricting Kim’s cash flow and hampering his nuclear weapons programme.
And She Yinhong, professor of international studies at Renmin University in the Chinese capital, said Beijing would be unwilling to toughen its stance any further.
He said: “China’s sanctions against Pyongyang have been unprecedented in terms of scope and severity and now China no longer has the capability, nor the willingness, to further sanction North Korea.”
China is the hermit state’s biggest trading partner and accounts for more than 90 per cent of its foreign businesses.
The Asian superpower is Kim’s biggest ally, and any peaceful resolution to the North Korean crisis will need the backing of Mr Xi.
President Trump is in Beijing as part of a 12-day, five-country tour of East Asia.
After talks with Mr Xi, he will fly on to Vietnam before visiting the Philippines.