Xi believes China-US Relations will have a brighter future
Chinese President Xi Jinping said to a group of American business leaders on Wednesday that relations between the two countries can get better, and said that his government would work to improve the business environment.
“Over the past couple of years, the China-U.S. relationship experienced some setbacks and serious challenges, from which lessons should be learned, and while the relationship cannot go back to the old days, it can embrace a brighter future.” an official translation of Xi’s comments said.
“China and the United States should help rather than hinder each other’s development, both in established areas such as trade and agriculture and in emerging areas such as climate and artificial intelligence,” the translation continued.
Among the participants were Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone Chairman and CEO, Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm President and CEO, Evan G. Greenberg, Chair of the Board of Directors National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Graham Allison, Founding Dean of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Craig Allen President of the U.S.-China Business Council.
The U.S.-China Business Council issued a press release saying that it “was honored to be invited to and participate in the discussion with President Xi to discuss our concerns over the decline in trade, investment, and business confidence, as well as our desire to help improve engagement and commercial exchange between our two countries.”
The council said it pushed the need for China to boost consumer consumption in its economy. While China has a target of around 5% growth this year, authorities have made improving industrial development a priority while moving forward with efforts to increase consumption.
Unlike others, Xi believes that China’s economy is “sound and sustainable” and does not feel that forecasts that the country would soon peak are accurate.
China’s foreign minister and head diplomat Wang Yi, National Development and Reform Commission Chair Zheng Shanjie, and Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao also were at the meeting, according to media footage.
FedEx confirmed its president, Rajesh Subramaniam, was among those who met with Xi on Wednesday, while Blackstone and Qualcomm did not respond to requests for comment and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations did not make any statement.
“I commend Xi’s engagement in the U.S.-China relationship, including a meeting like this. Engagement is how relationships are built, and knowledge is shared,” the committee’s chair Greenberg said on Chinese state television. Greenberg is also chairman and CEO of insurance company Chubb.
Working on foreign business conditions
The U.S.-China Business Council release also said that during the meeting with Xi, it “encouraged” China to “further address longstanding concerns with cross-border data flows, government procurement, better protection of intellectual property rights, and improved regulatory transparency and predictability.”
Last Friday, the Cyberspace Administration of China formally eased once-stringent data export requirements with the release of long-awaited new rules.
“China’s reform will not pause, and its opening up will not stop,” the official translation of Xi’s remarks said. “China is planning and implementing a series of major steps for comprehensively deepening reform and steadily fostering a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment which will create broader development space for U.S. and other foreign businesses.”
At a dinner hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations In San Francisco in November, Xi also addressed a group of U.S. business executives. That dinner followed a meeting with Joe Biden earlier in the day.
“The most important understanding Xi reached with President Biden at last year’s meeting was the need to stabilize and improve China-U.S. relations,” the Chinese translation of Wednesday’s meeting with U.S. business leaders said.
It described the bilateral business ties as a “new and evolving situation” and called for both sides to “follow economic and market rules,” “expand and deepen mutually beneficial business cooperation,” and “respect each other’s development rights.”
Biden, who is running for reelection in November, has released incentives for boosting industrial development in the U.S. His administration has also used export controls to restrict U.S. companies from selling advanced semiconductor technology to China.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that during her upcoming trip to China, she will discuss concerns about the global impact of Chinese manufacturing overcapacity.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan held an opening ceremony for its new facility in the city, which is set to offer nonimmigrant visa interviews and other services.