As U.S. and Chinese Officials Meet, Businesses Temper Their Hopes

In a meeting in Beijing on Friday, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, traded warm smiles with Bill Gates and praised Mr. Gates as “the first American friend” he had met this year.

The encounters in Beijing between Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and his Chinese counterparts, starting on Sunday, are likely to feel noticeably chillier.

The high-level meetings are aimed at getting the U.S.-China relationship back on track, and many American…