US firms get mixed signals in China on whether they’re welcome
US executives who visited China this week got the chance to meet with senior officials of President Xi Jinping’s government, but received conflicting signals over Beijing’s openness to foreign investment.
While Chinese officials appealed to American firms to boost innovation in China - a goal outlined at the Third Plenum meeting - the party conclave also highlighted national self-sufficiency as a priority, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some US executives view the twin objectives as contradictory, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.
American executives including Apple Inc. Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, Micron Technology Inc. President Sanjay Mehrotra and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Waldron were part of a US-China Business Council delegation that visited Beijing this week to promote exchanges and discuss economic and policy priorities with Chinese leaders. The trip came after the conclusion of the Third Plenum, a Communist Party meeting devoted to long-term reform.
The executives met with senior officials including Vice Premier He Lifeng, leaders from several Chinese ministries, members of the business and academic communities, and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
The Chinese hosts picked out themes from the Plenum resolution that they thought US executives were most interested in and didn’t mention the others, according to the person, describing the document as abstract. Companies need more details before they’re confident what it means for them, the person said.
China’s Ministry of Commerce didn’t respond to a request for comment. The Washington-based US-China Business Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.
Xi has led efforts to bolster foreign investment in China as whipsawing tensions with Washington and a shaky economic recovery brought investor confidence to fresh lows. While the officials who met with US business leaders delivered a message of welcome, the executives remain wary because the Chinese economy is still lacking dynamism, according to the person.
American companies have been caught in the crosshairs of US-China tensions. Ties between the two biggest economies risk worsening if Donald Trump were elected to a second term, as the former president has vowed massive tariffs that could shrink trade between the two nations to practically nothing.
The US election did not come up as a topic of conversation during the visit, but Chinese officials pushed back on overcapacity claims and US export controls, according to the person. The business leaders brought up issues including the supply and demand imbalance in the Chinese economy, overuse of national security concerns, and the role of the private sector, the person said.