(MarketScreener with Reuters) – Beijing is set to welcome an impressive delegation of international business leaders to the China Development Forum, to be held on March 23 and 24 at the Diaoyutai State Residence. According to a draft agenda and several sources close to the matter, some of them may even have the opportunity to meet President Xi Jinping.
According to a document consulted by Reuters, CEOs from major multinationals such as FedEx, Siemens, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Qualcomm, AstraZeneca, Nestlé, Aramco, Citadel, Rio Tinto, Deutsche Bank, McKinsey, Estée Lauder, Standard Chartered and KPMG will be making the trip. The summit will also bring together leading figures from the mining, engineering and healthcare sectors, with a stronger European presence than in previous editions.
After the event, Xi Jinping is expected to hold talks with a small circle of foreign leaders, including several European and British CEOs, according to one source. However, the final list of participants and the timetable are still subject to change.
China back at the forefront, US bosses dragging their feet
The Chinese initiative is part of a broader strategy to boost the country’s appeal for foreign investment, at a time when the economic and geopolitical situation remains particularly tense.
Trade tensions with the United States remain high. This month, US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs on Chinese exports, prompting Beijing to retaliate immediately with additional taxes on US agricultural products.
In this climate of uncertainty, foreign direct investment in China fell by 13.4% in January compared with the previous year, according to official data published in February.
“Any travel to China by US CEOs will remain very discreet, given Washington’s increased surveillance of US investment in China”, confided a source close to the matter. As a result, participation by US business leaders will be more limited this year. The CEOs of semiconductor giants Micron and AMD, who attended last year’s event, are not on the provisional list. Likewise, companies currently under investigation or scrutiny by Chinese authorities, such as Google, Illumina, PVH and Walmart, are not mentioned.
Another notable absentee is Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who, according to one source, is not expected to meet foreign CEOs this year. Last year, he already cancelled this meeting, depriving the multinational bosses of a direct exchange with one of the highest-ranking Chinese government officials.
Reinvigorated, Chinese tech seeks influence
A number of Chinese key players in the technology sector will be present, starting with Wang Xingxing, CEO of robot manufacturer Unitree Robotics, and Qu Fang, founder of social media application RedNote. The latter is enjoying a meteoric rise in the US, a success that comes at a time when TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is in turmoil in the face of threats of a ban from Washington.
Wang Xingxing had already taken part last month in an exceptional meeting between Xi Jinping and China’s top tech bosses, a meeting carefully staged to reassure a sector in turmoil, faced with American restrictions on Chinese technologies.
Finally, the China Development Forum will also welcome leading political and economic figures, including Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan, as well as senior officials from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Against this backdrop of reshaping global economic balances, Beijing intends to display a posture of openness and stability. It remains to be seen whether multinationals, faced with an increasingly complex business climate, will see this as a strong enough signal to maintain, or even strengthen, their commitments in China.
