Even for everyday people in China, President Trump’s influence looms large.

即便对于中国的普通民众而言，特朗普总统的影响力也无处不在。

A steel trader in the southern city of Fuzhou said his business had been depressed by the trade war. A taxi driver in northern China complained that the increase in global gas prices amid the war in Iran meant he had to pay more at the pump.

在南方城市福州，一位做钢材生意的商人表示，贸易战令他生意惨淡。在中国北方，一位出租车司机抱怨，由于伊朗战争导致全球油价上涨，他加油的成本也随之增加。

At a shopping mall in Beijing, Sunny Sun, a woman who was invested in stocks, said she was watching her portfolio, wary of the impact of announcements from the president’s summit with Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader.

在北京的一家购物中心里，股民孙晴（音）表示，她正密切关注自己的投资组合，会留意特朗普与中国领导人习近平峰会晤后发布的声明会带来怎样的影响。

“There’s definitely some uncertainty in the market sentiment, because Trump is the kind of person who says one thing today and another tomorrow when he gets back to the United States,” Ms. Sun said. “His words can actually stir up things globally.”

孙女士说：“这个情绪上来看应该还是会有一点，大家就是不确定性，因为老特属于那种今天他在这儿说，明天可能回到美国又说别的了，这个东西都不好说。他的话其实可以搅动全球的一些东西。”

‘Like Stand-Up Comedy’

“像是在听脱口秀一样”

Some residents were surprised to hear that Mr. Trump was visiting China, but all knew who he was. They cited his attempted assassination, his business record, his refusal to wear face masks during the pandemic, his campaign against Iran, and, of course, his tariffs.

一些民众听说特朗普来访感到意外，但没有人不知道他是谁。他们提到了他遭遇暗杀未遂、他的商业履历、疫情期间拒绝戴口罩、对伊朗的行动，当然还有他的关税。

北京的米莉·朱（音）。

“He’s a rather interesting person,” said Milly Zhu, a 34-year-old who works in film and TV promotion and was walking in a shopping mall in Beijing. “Some of his words and actions, for example regarding China, seem like stand-up comedy to people in China,” she said.

在北京一家购物中心逛街的米莉·朱（音）说，“我觉得他是一个比较有趣的人。”34岁的朱小姐从事影视宣发工作。“他的一些言行，比如说他对于中国，就像他说的很多一些东西，在我们国内人看来像是在听脱口秀一样，”她说。

“Our President Xi might be considered, in comparison to Trump, more serious,” she added.

她还说：“我们的习主席，就相对于川普而言，他就更会严肃一些。”

Often, their views were negative. Yang Saixiang, a 47-year old worker at a nail salon in a shopping mall in Fuzhou, said the Iran war had worsened her views and that many Chinese people disliked Mr. Trump.

他们的看法往往是负面的。47岁的杨赛香（音）在福州一家购物中心的美甲店工作，她说，伊朗战争让她对特朗普的印象更差了，许多中国人都不喜欢他。

“He’s not friendly to China,” she said. She said tariffs and the U.S.-China trade war had dampened earnings for her customers, and she questioned why the United States could not simply change presidents. “I think at his age, he doesn’t need to be president anymore,” she said.

她说：“原因有很多，我是比如说，对我们中国不友好之类的。”她表示，关税和中美贸易战影响了她顾客的收入，她质疑美国为什么不能换个总统。“我觉得他到了这种年龄，我觉得他没必要做总统了，”她说。

‘He’s Quite Brutal’

“挺残暴的”

Peng Shuiming, an 18-year-old hairdresser who sat outside the Fuzhou mall playing games on his phone, said the war with Iran had further soured his opinion on the United States, which was already poor.

18岁的理发师彭帅明（音）坐在福州那家购物中心外玩手游，他说伊朗战争让他对美国原本就不好的印象变得更加差了。

“My impression of him isn’t very good; he’s quite brutal,” he said of Mr. Trump.

“对他的印象不是太好，挺残暴的，”他谈到特朗普时说。

彭帅明（音），本周摄于福州。

Mr. Peng said he was indifferent to Mr. Trump’s visit, and that whether China needed the United States was a “matter of choice. I feel China is quite powerful,” he said.

他还表示，对于特朗普的来访，他并不在意，而且中国是否需要美国，“我感觉可要可不要，感觉中国挺强大的”，他说。

Zhang Lei, a 40-year-old taxi driver in Jinan, Shandong Province, argued that China was already wealthy, with little need for foreign goods, and that it should be more assertive.

山东济南40岁的出租车司机张磊（音）认为，中国已经很富裕了，对外国商品需求不大，应该更加强硬。

“The fact that he’s taking the initiative to visit China means that China can control him, right?” he said of Mr. Trump. “It means that this trade war isn’t just unsuccessful for China, it means that the U.S. is also struggling.”

在谈到特朗普时，他说：“他只要主动上中国来访华，那说明他，就说是中国可以拿捏他，是吧？说明这个贸易战不光中国不行，说明美国也不行，垮得也挺厉害的。”

‘Better to Avoid Tariff Wars’

“不要做关税战”

Some of the negative views of the United States appeared to be based on misinformation circulated on social media. One woman cited a report that beggars in the United States eat human flesh, while Mr. Peng mentioned that his view on the United States had worsened after seeing a report during the pandemic about the United States dumping bodies in the sea.

一些对美国的负面看法似乎来自社交媒体上流传的不实信息。一位女性提到她看到一则报道称，美国的乞丐吃人肉；彭帅明也说，他在疫情期间看到美国“把尸体扔进海里”的报道，这让他对美国的印象变得更糟了。

Others seemed to blame Mr. Trump and the trade war for broader weakness in the Chinese economy, some of which was likely linked to the current real estate downturn, or other reasons.

也有人似乎将中国经济的整体疲软归咎于特朗普和贸易战，尽管这其中很大一部分可能与当前的房地产低迷或其他原因有关。

Chen Gang, a 42-year-old steel trader in Fuzhou, said tense relations between the United States and China were hurting his business. He sells steel to the construction industry, but the sector is shrinking.

42岁的陈刚（音）在福州做钢材生意，他说中美关系紧张正在损害他的生意。他向建筑行业供货，但这个行业正在萎缩。

“It would be better to avoid tariff wars and just cooperate amicably, without all this back and forth,” he said.

他说：“当然说，你这样子不要做关税战那种，合作愉快一点就更好了，不要搞来搞去。”

Mr. Chen said that Chinese leaders should be “polite and courteous” to Mr. Trump — at least on the surface. “People say nice things on the surface, but what they really mean behind the scenes is another matter. That’s how it is in business,” he said.

陈刚说，中国领导人对特朗普应该“都是和和气气的”——即使是在表面上。“现在表面说的好，背后都不一定是什么样子，都一样。做生意的都这样，”他说。

‘We Want to Get Along Well With the United States’

“和美国好好相处”

Many expressed hope that the meetings between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi would set the United States and China on a more stable path. Almost all characterized China as inherently peaceful.

许多人希望特朗普与习近平的会晤能够让美中关系走向更稳定的轨道。几乎所有人都认为中国本质上是爱好和平的。

“We don’t want war, we want peace,” Ms. Zhu said. “We want to get along well with the United States, and we want to develop our economy. Only peace can create a better economy.”

“所以我今天的所有的概念就是不希望战争，希望和平，”米莉·朱说，“和美国好好相处，我们好好发展经济，因为我们就真的只有和平才能创造出更好的经济体。”

济南的沈建民（音）。

In Jinan, the northern Chinese city, Shen Jianmin, a 74-year-old retiree and former farmer who was relaxing in a public plaza on Wednesday, said that Mr. Trump tended to stir up trouble for no reason. But he said the visit was a positive development.

周三，在中国北方城市济南，曾是农民的74岁退休老人沈建民（音）在一处公共广场上休息。他说，特朗普往往无缘无故地制造麻烦。但他认为这次访问是积极的。

“It’s good that the U.S. is coming to China, right?” he said. “The friendship between the two countries is good.”

“美国上这边来中国，也是挺好的是吧？”他说。“两国友谊，我感觉挺好吧。”

“Everyone wants a good life; which ordinary person wants to fight? When you’re constantly at war, it’s the ordinary people who suffer,” he added.

“都想过好日子，老百姓谁愿意打仗？你整天打起来以后，还是老百姓吃苦，”他补充道。