China’s Xi calls on top executives to help ‘uphold global order’ as trade tensions with U.S. rise

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with global executives and made a case for investing in the country, as Beijing focuses on reaching out to businesses amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S.

He said multinational companies had a big responsibility to “uphold global order” and that they needed to work hand in hand with China.

Xi emphasized that China was a safe and stable place for foreign companies. “To invest in China is to invest in tomorrow,” he said in Mandarin translated by CNBC. 

Echoing recent policy plans, Xi said that China would ensure fair opportunities for foreign businesses to participate in government procurement bids.

More than 40 people, mostly foreign executives and business officials, attended the roundtable meeting with Xi, including Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwartzman.

U.S. President Donald Trump has raised tariffs by 20% on China since January over its alleged role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, and threatened a swath of new duties on major trading partners starting early April. Trump this week said he might reduce China tariffs to help close a deal that forces Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations.

The U.S. this week also added dozens of Chinese tech companies to its export blacklist, the first such restrictions under the Trump administration.

China has increased its trade with Southeast Asian countries and the European Union, but the U.S. remains Beijing’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis.

Xi said U.S.-China trade tensions should be resolved through negotiations. “We need to work for the stability of global supply chains,” he added, noting there was no way out under decoupling.

Politburo standing committee member Cai Qi, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Vice Premier He Lifeng also attended the meeting along with the heads of China’s economic planning agency, finance ministry and commerce ministry.

Seven foreign executives spoke at the event before Xi gave closing remarks, according to an agenda seen by CNBC.

Xi gave individualized comments on the speaker’s remarks based on past history with the person or the company, according to Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations.

Orlins pointed out that the companies present at the meeting already had interests in China.

Beijing has sought to offset trade pressures, rather than retaliate forcefully. It courted the executives of major U.S. businesses at a state-backed annual conference that ran from Sunday to Monday. Apple CEO Tim Cook was among those who attended the conference, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk was conspicuous by his absence. Neither were at Friday’s meeting with Xi.

Also on Sunday, U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing — the first time a U.S. politician has visited China since Trump began his latest term in January.

“This was the first step to an important next step, which will be a meeting between President Xi and President Trump,” Daines told the Wall Street Journal. “When that occurs and where it occurs is to be determined.”

The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Li urged cooperation and said no one could gain from a trade war, according to state media.

Top executives of major firms including FedEx, Pfizer, Cargill, Qualcomm and Boeing as well as U.S.-China Business Council President Sean Stein were also present at Daines’ meeting with Li, according to a foreign media pool report.