Ivanka Trump attends the Chinese New Year reception at the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. on Feb 2, 2017. [Photo by Zhao Huanxin/China Daily]

Ivanka came to the reception about an hour after it started. Earlier in the day, she traveled to Delaware with her father to honor the returning remains of a US Navy SEAL killed during a weekend raid in Yemen, according to an Associated Press report.

At the beginning of the embassy reception, Ambassador Cui said, "Over these decades, we have learned that we should always respond to difficulties and challenges by cooperation, instead of conflict or confrontation."