In Charm Offensive, Xi Meets With Cream of the Corporate Crop

President Xi Jinping met with representatives from the international business community Friday morning, talking up the pivotal role foreign investment has played in China’s modernization and highlighting Beijing’s persistent efforts to create a more attractive investment environment for foreign businesses.

His meeting was Beijing’s latest salvo in its charm offensive aimed at wooing foreign investors amid heightened global trade tensions, with recent tariff hikes on Chinese goods by a U.S. administration that is proving capricious in its foreign economic policies, and against the backdrop of an economy undergoing an unstable recovery, dogged by tepid domestic demand, real estate risks, and local government fiscal pressure.

Speakers at Xi’s Meeting With Global Business Leaders

Xi told the group of more than 40 chairpersons, CEOs and business association representatives, including from FedEx Corp., Mercedes-Benz Group AG, HSBC Group, SK Hynix Inc. and Saudi Aramco, that foreign enterprises in China have made great contributions to the country’s rapid economic growth and long-term social stability, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.