Attendees will pos for group photos before the opening ceremony of China Development Forum 2025, which will be held at Diaoyutai Guesthouse in Beijing on March 23, 2025.
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BEIJING – China was tried by executives of major US companies at this week’s annual meeting with signs of how Beijing would try to offset trade pressures rather than forcibly retaliate.
China has long sought to attract foreign investment as a way to enhance growth, particularly under US President Donald Trump, while leveraging business profits for its potential impact on the White House. The US has increased tariffs twice on all Chinese products since January, but Beijing has only announced targeting obligations and restrictions on a small number of American companies.
This week, conversations on the sidelines of the Nationally Organized China Development Forum in Beijing reinforced a more reconciliatory attitude than official rhetoric about China’s preparedness to fight “all kinds of wars” with the United States this month.
Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at the Paul Zei China Center at Yale Law School, told CNBC that attendees in China had not focused on what they could do to deal with US tariffs.
“The questions I get more [are]why is Trump doing this? What is he trying to achieve? Roach said. He has been at the event since the early 2000s.
“My answer is that this is an unprecedented time for America’s role in the global economy. We are back to a tariff regime where history tells us that it is very destructive,” Roach said.
US stocks have shaken up in recent weeks as investors try to assess the economic impact of tariff changing plans on their major trading partners. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said last week that tariffs could slow progress in lowering US inflation
Message of “safety”
At this week’s meeting, China was trying to send a message of “feeling peace of mind.” This is directed in a “conservative, positive direction” compared to plans to promote consumption and what’s going on in the US, says Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor to Chinese Business and Economics for Business and Economics in China, a think tank for DCTTON, and chairman of economics.
If the US imposes significantly larger tariffs in early April, “then you will move from managing costs to perhaps a coupling possibility,” Kennedy told CNBC. “And that could mean the game is up. So I think the level of anxiety is pretty high. That’s why China is trying to provide this message of security.”
The Trump administration has threatened new tariffs on its major trading partners since early April. China has increased trade between Southeast Asian countries and the European Union, but the US remains Beijing’s biggest trading partner.
The China Development Forum took place on Sunday and Monday. Apple CEO Tim Cook was among the executives present, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not.
Ken Griffin, CEO of hedge fund Citadel, said in an official panel of the forum that “the increase in optimism this year at CDF last year is extremely heartwarming.”
Trump is “committed to American companies that have access to global markets,” Griffin said. “And the President is willing to use tariffs to implement this worldview.”
The first step towards Xi-Trump Meeting?
Also on Sunday, US Republican Sen. Steve Daines met Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in Beijing. This was the first time that American politicians visited China since they began their latest term in January.
“This is the first step into an important next step and will be a meeting between President XI and President Trump,” Daines told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s going to happen and where it happens is determined.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Li urged cooperation, saying that no one could benefit from the trade war, according to state media.
Dean Sheen meets FedEx CEO Large Subramaniam, Senior Vice President Brendan Nelson, Cargill CEO Brian Sykes, Medtronic CEO Jeffrey Martha, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourra, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, UL Solutions CEO Jennifer Squanlon, and US business president.
China, the world’s second largest economy, is an important source of income for many multinational companies, not to mention the majority of its supply chain.
Despite efforts to strengthen international business ties, the country has warned about US tariff measures and has taken progressive measures.
Following US sanctions over Chinese telecommunications giant Howei, during his first term as President Trump, Beijing launched an unreliable entities list that would limit foreign business activities with China.
China added Calvin Klein’s pro-PVH and several other US companies to its list after tariffs increased this year. On Monday, China also said it will soon reveal new measures that will give legal grounds to counter foreign pressure.
Economic factors
For us businesses in China, the economic recovery is also an important factor in our local business plans.
Since late September, China has been stepping up its efforts to support its economy. Earlier this month, top policymakers confirmed their stimulus plans and recent efforts to encourage private technology entrepreneurs in the wake of Deepseek’s artificial intelligence breakthrough.
“You’re feeling a lot of positive momentum that started in China this year, so I feel that recovery is ongoing,” Corning CEO Wendell P. Weeks told CNBC.
However, China’s economy is struggling with deflationary pressures and real estate slump, weighing the outlook for regional growth for international companies.
Goldman Sachs estimates that even Beijing’s push to support high-tech manufacturing has so far added an average of 1.1 percentage points to GDP growth over the past three years.
“We will remain optimistic because the role of technology is important. We are thinking more than ever,” Qualcomm’s Amon told CNBC. “I think technology will become a part of economic growth.”
