Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) yesterday vowed to further open up China’s economy during a meeting with chief executive officers of top global companies held amid simmering trade tensions with the US.
Washington and other trade partners have long complained about the uneven playing field foreign companies encounter in China, theft of intellectual property and entry barriers that allow state-backed companies to dominate crucial sectors of the economy.
During the meeting in Beijing with heads of 19 multinational companies, Li pledged to make China more attractive to foreign investors.
“We welcome more and more foreign investment to come to China,” Li told the group representing the Global CEO Council.
“We will also relax [restrictions on] access to even more fields to create a market-oriented, law-based internationalized business environment,” he said.
Among the industry leaders attending the meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People were Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess, Pfizer Inc CEO Albert Bourla, Daimler AG chairman of the board of management Ola Kallenius, UPS International Inc CEO David Abney, Honeywell International Inc CEO Darius Adamczyk and Nokia Corp CEO Rajeev Suri.
Schneider Electric SE CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire told Li that foreign firms are the “best bridges” between China and the rest of the world.
“Since some time though, the world has been going through turbulences, tensions and challenges,” Tricoire said.
The meeting comes as bruising US tariffs threaten China’s status as the “factory of the world,” with companies looking to move production outside the country, according to a recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
The Chinese government also convened top tech companies and warned them of consequences if they cut off technology sales to the country, the New York Times reported earlier this month.
Last month US President Donald Trump moved to blacklist Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over national security concerns, curbing its access to US-made components it needs for its equipment.
China later announced plans for its own list of “unreliable” foreign companies, which it said targets companies that “undermine national security.”
China’s National People’s Congress in March approved a foreign investment law, as a possible olive branch in trade talks with the US, but it received a lukewarm welcome from business groups.
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