Chinese dictator Xi Jinping met with visiting U.S. business leaders in Beijing on Wednesday in an effort to bring much-needed foreign investment back to China’s struggling economy.
Mr. Xi promised that the economy would stabilize and said foreign businessmen need not fear persecution by the dictatorship.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) I got it. Mr. Xi’s attendance at the meeting was unusual, as the gathering of foreign executives at the end of the annual China Development Forum is usually presided over by the Chinese Communist Party’s number two leader, the prime minister.
The current Prime Minister, Li Qiang, spearhead China’s efforts to reassure foreign investors after the madness of coronavirus lockdowns and a series of heavy-handed corporate crackdowns.
Among other operations, Lee appears to have been responsible for To welcome Exiled tech tycoon Jack Ma has returned to the Communist Party’s favor after regulators damaged his fortune and expelled him from the country in 2020. Ma’s return to China was an obvious public relations strategy to reassure foreign funds that Beijing’s crackdown was over.
Li was in charge of meetings with foreign executives after last year’s China Development Forum, but he does not appear to be attending this year’s event, which is highly unusual. Instead, Xi appeared in person on Wednesday, emphasizing that Beijing plans to offer more opportunities to outside investors and increase regulatory transparency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with representatives from the U.S. business, strategic and academic communities at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the capital of China, March 27, 2024. (Huang Jingwen/Xinhua News Agency, via Getty Images)
The RFA said China’s economy has fallen to its lowest growth rate in nearly 25 years, and concerns about President Xi Jinping’s “raids on consulting and due diligence firms” and a new authoritarian “anti-espionage law” It observed that foreign investment in China in 2024 decreased by 8%. ”, the Wuhan coronavirus disaster, political tensions between the Chinese and Western governments, and a growing movement among international companies to “de-risk” by reducing their dependence on China for manufacturing. There is a lingering anxiety about
The Xi government has been particularly disturbed by the trend of risk aversion, with many Western companies shifting to alternative businesses such as Vietnam and India.Lee tried it. bullying Over the summer, Western companies tried unsuccessfully to fend off risks through threats and insults.
President Xi took a friendlier approach on Wednesday, pledging a “better future” for Sino-US relations, leading Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg and Carlyle Group Asia managing director Stephen Orlins. He posed for pictures with famous people in the business world, such as Mr. An NGO working to improve U.S.-China relations.
Other U.S. attendees included Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon, BlackRock Founder Stephen Schwartzman, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, and Bloomberg Chairman Mark Carney. .
Chinese state media reported that Mr. Xi listened carefully to all concerns and responded with a promise that “China’s reform will not stop and its opening up will not stop.”
“We will comprehensively deepen our reforms, continue to build a market-oriented, legal and international first-class business environment, and implement a series of initiatives to provide further development room for businesses around the world, including U.S. businesses. We are planning and implementing major measures,” Xi said.
“Facing the new situation and changes in China-US economic and trade relations in recent years, both sides must adhere to mutual respect, reciprocity and equal consultation, act in accordance with economic law and market rules, and expand and deepen mutual benefit. “Economic and trade cooperation and respect for each other’s right to development.”
Mr. Xi’s reform and opening-up pledges were filled with blame-shifting and thinly veiled hints about what China expected in return for rolling out the red carpet to U.S. investors. He blamed most of the difficulties in bilateral relations on the United States and condescendingly instructed the United States to “actively seek the right way to interact.” The sudden eagerness to follow “market rules” was an effort to pave the way for China to oppose U.S. restrictions on electric vehicle imports.
Although President Xi has insisted that China’s economy is “healthy and sustainable” and is only surviving some temporary setbacks, Thomas J. Dusterberg, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said: He said the slowdown in China’s economy has seriously upset President Xi, making him desperate for foreign investment.
“These CEOs are telling Xi Jinping behind closed doors that if they want to continue accessing the U.S. market, they should do better and allow U.S. and other foreign companies to do business in China on a reciprocal basis. I hope they communicate that there is a need,” Dusterberg said. RFA reiterated the complaints that Xi would hear most often from guests.
CMarch 27, 2024: Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with representatives from the U.S. business, strategic, and academic communities at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital, Beijing. (Huang Jingwen/Xinhua News Agency, via Getty Images)
Chinese state media claimed that Mr Xi’s performance was well received by visiting US officials, who understood the symbolic importance of the dictator handling the meeting personally.
“U.S. businesses expressed optimism about China’s economic development prospects, appreciating China’s recent introduction of a series of important initiatives toward further reform and opening up. “We will continue to explore and develop close long-term cooperation with China,” Chinese state media said. Global Times report on wednesday.
of Global Times Citing a “China expert” who said the U.S. business community is eager to forge friendly relations with the People’s Republic of China, it would be “very difficult for the U.S. government to thwart such momentum.” President Donald Trump made veiled references to the possibility of excluding China. The 2024 election will likely see a much more pro-China Joe Biden take office from the White House.
of Global Times It also highlighted some approving comments made by U.S. executives, particularly Apple CEO Tim Cook, who recently declared that “no other supply chain in the world is as important to the company” as China. However, this statement was interpreted by Chinese media as a sign of risk aversion, and the move is coming to an end.
At about the same time that President Xi met with U.S. officials in Beijing, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu met with them. phone Discuss “international and regional issues” with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
The State Department said the call was an effort to “responsibly manage competition in the relationship” between the United States and China. Campbell “stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and Korean Peninsula,” and also “expressed concern” about China’s support for Russia’s war machine.
