President Xi Jinping of China hosted a meeting with several US top executives such as Evan Greenberg from Chubb and Cristiano Amon from Qualcomm on Wednesday, an attempt to reconcile after the geopolitical and trade disagreement between the world’s two dominant economies. This meeting comes at a time when China’s international trading partners have expressed concerns over Beijing’s extensive investment in manufacturing to compensate for a severe property decline. This could potentially lead to international markets dealing with oversupply and possible dumping.
Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that the meeting was held at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People and the US executives were photographed. Along with those reported, the official Beijing broadcaster, CCTV, said Bloomberg chair Mark Carney and FedEx’s Raj Subramaniam were present as well. The founder of Blackstone, though not named, was said to be at the meeting whilst Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone was in Beijing for dialogue with officials.
The US CEOs were in Beijing for the China Development Forum, an annual business conference hosted by the city. President Xi had previously met with US business executives last November at a dinner in San Francisco, organised by the US-China Business Council and the National Committee on US-China Relations. The leaders of both organising bodies, Craig Allen and Stephen Orlins, were also reportedly attending the Wednesday meeting with President Xi.
Informants have noted that around 20 US executives were planned to meet with Mr Xi. European executives in Beijing over the weekend for the CDF were not expected at the Wednesday meeting due to it being a response to the San Francisco event.
Relations between the US and China have since steadied post meeting between President Xi and US President Joe Biden at the Apec forum. However, tensions persist. The US has committed to looking into whether Chinese electric vehicles entering their markets pose a security risk. Conversely, Beijing has restricted the use of Apple’s iPhone and Tesla vehicles in government offices, and also lodged a case against US electric vehicle subsidies at the World Trade Organization.
As of recently, Beijing has attempted to project a more open image to international businesses after foreign direct investment last year plummeted to its lowest in years. Preceding the CDF, Beijing declared explanations to new data laws, a move that has been warmly received by businesses concerned about cross-border data transactions.
Sean Stein, the chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, has reported that American businesses trading in China have a more positive outlook compared to a year ago, despite continuing structural shortcomings in China’s economy. Yet, the current business cycle indicates improvement.
China’s premier, Li Qiang, broke tradition this year by not convening a press conference at the end of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament. Usually, this event offers a rare opportunity for both domestic and international media to interrogate the person in charge of the world’s second-largest economy.
However, participants said more bilateral meetings involving ministers occurred at the CDF, and discussions were more frank than the previous year. Denis Depoux, who is the global managing director of Roland Berger consultancy, mentioned that more overseas guests were present at the CDF and the Boao Forum for Asia, another international conference held on China’s Hainan island. He said the situation was reminiscent of 2019; he observed more active chief executives at the CDF.
According to official statistics published on Wednesday, China’s economy seems to be stabilising, with industrial profits increasing by 10.2% in the first two months of the year, compared to the year before. This increase can partly be attributed to the low base in 2023.
The CEO of a major multinational stated that this year, the rhetoric from Beijing, including Li Qiang’s opening address at the CDF, was more assured than the year before. Regardless, it remains unclear whether the confidence display is authentic, given China’s economic challenges or a calculated move to bolster investor confidence. “The situation is a tough one to judge currently,” he admitted.