ZCZC
BCN-33
CHINA-ECONOMY-TRADE-INVESTMENTS
China tells top global CEOs it will ‘further open up’
BEIJING, June 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Premier Li Keqiang vowed Thursday to
further open up China’s economy during a meeting with CEOs of top global
companies amid simmering trade tensions with the United States.
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 internationalised business environment.”
Among the industry leaders attending the meeting at Beijing’s opulent
Great Hall of the People were Volkswagen head Herbert Diess, Pfizer CEO
Albert Bourla, Daimler’s Ola Kallenius, UPS chief executive David Abney,
Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk and Nokia’s Rajeev Suri.
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, head of Schneider Electric, told Li that foreign
firms are the “best bridges” between China and the rest of the world.
“Since sometime 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 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”.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at the G20 summit in
Japan next week, raising hopes that trade war talks will be back on track
after they collapsed last month.
China’s rubber-stamp parliament in March approved a foreign investment
law, as a possible olive branch in trade talks with the United States, but it
received a lukewarm welcome from business groups.
BSS/AFP/HR/1448