"SAN FRANCISCO -- Foreign capital is fleeing China. Yet on his first trip to the U.S. in six years, Chinese leader Xi Jinping didn't make a pitch to win back American businesses and investors.
Instead, at a Wednesday night dinner in San Francisco with U.S. corporate chiefs and other guests, Xi sought to enlist American corporations' help in easing bilateral tensions, emphasizing the room for both nations to work together -- a theme of his meeting with President Biden earlier in the day.
"China is pursuing high-quality development, and the United States is revitalizing its economy," he told the business leaders. "There is plenty of room for our cooperation."
The absence of any mention of trade and investment, let alone reassurance for businesses jarred by an increasingly tough environment in China, surprised and dismayed some of the executives, who described it as a missed opportunity.
"I, too, was disappointed that Xi didn't take the opportunity to address the American business community's concerns about the operating environment in China," said Andy Rothman, an investment strategist at Matthews Asia, a U.S.-based fund manager, "or to share his thoughts on how his domestic economic policies might evolve."
The business leaders greeted Xi with a standing ovation as the Chinese leader went on stage, introduced by insurer Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg. In attendance were chief executives including Apple's Tim Cook and BlackRock's Larry Fink, along with leaders and senior executives from Qualcomm, Boeing, Blackstone, KKR, Pfizer, FedEx and other large U.S. firms, which all invest in China and collectively have trillions of dollars in market value.
Xi's cooperation message sounded tone deaf to some in the audience as the risks for businesses operating in China have increased substantially. Western management consultants, auditors and other firms have been hit with raids, investigations and detentions. New espionage and data-security laws threaten to criminalize routine business activities.
"He offered no hints of concessions to business or even interest in more investment in the Chinese economy," said a senior U.S. business executive who attended the dinner. "The speech was propaganda at its finest."
In some corners, however, Xi was applauded for following through with a visit to the U.S., even if he spoke in generalities. "He could have had a speech that was more aggressive and nationalistic, defending China," said Sadek Wahba, an investor who chairs an institute on strategic competition at Wilson Center. "Maybe it's a false sense of comfort, but in my view it's a positive."
U.S. officials have said Washington would try to get Beijing to back off on its pressure on American companies through newly established working groups between the two governments.
Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and a former senior U.S. trade official, who attended the dinner, said, "All eyes will now be on the working groups to see whether they will go beyond the 'talk shop' mode to achieve meaningful outcomes."
Xi came to San Francisco with the dual mission of stabilizing relations with the U.S. and restoring investor confidence in China's economy." [1]
Really scary. He does not ask for money and does not promise anything. A nightmare.
1. World News: Xi Asks U.S. Business Leaders To Help Ease Growing Tensions --- After speech, some are disappointed by his lack of plans to bolster economic ties. Wei, Lingling; Hutzler, Charles. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 17 Nov 2023: A.8.
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