Participants posed for a group photo before the Chinese Development Ceremony of the Forum Development 2025. At the Diaoyutai Pensionai on March 2, 2025 in Beijing.
Kina News Service | Kina News Service | Getty Images
Beijing – Cinema has been training executives at the annual conference this week, the leaders of the main US companies sign on how Beijing seeks to compensate for trade pressure rather than in force.
China has long sought to attract foreign investments as a way to strengthen growth while Business interests services for potential Influence on the white houseespecially under the US President Donald Trump. The United States has twice increased the tariffs on all Chinese goods, but Beijing has announced only target duties and restrictions on a few US companies.
Talking on the margins of a state -organized Chinese forum development this week in Beijing enhanced a a more reassuring attitude than the official rhetoric of this month on how China He is ready to fight “any kind of war” with the United States.
The students of the Chinese conference were not focused on what could be done to respond to US tariffs, for CNBC, CNBC, Stephen Roach, an older colleague from Yale Faculty of Law, Paul Tsai China Center.
“Questions I got more [are]Why Trump does that? What is he trying to achieve? What does he think it takes America really to do great? “Said Roach. He attended an event since the early 2000s.
“My answer is that this is an unprecedented period for the role of America in the world economy. We return to the tariff regime, which history tells us can be extremely destructive,” Roach said, adding that he expects more political uncertainty in the United States -in the world “for a long time.”
US stocks turned In recent weeks, while investors are trying to assess the economic impact of Trump’s plans for tariffs on the main American trade partners. President of US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell said last week Tariffs could delay progress in lowering inflation in the US
The message of “persuasion”
At this week’s conference, China was trying to send a “belief” message – about how Consumption plans And as the country is guided in a “modestly positive direction” in relation to what is happening in the US, said Scott Kennedy, senior advisor and chairman of the Chinese business and economics Commissioner at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Research Center based in Washington, DC
If the US imposes a significantly large tariff in early April, “then you are exceeding the cost of costs and waxing to any removal,” Kennedy told CNBC. “And then that might mean the game is up. So, I think the level of anxiety is quite high. And that’s why China tries to provide this belief message.”
Trump’s administration has threatened with the development of new tariffs to the main trade partners since the beginning of April. China has increased its trade with Southeast Asia countries and the European Union, but now they remain the largest commercial partner in Beijing based on one country.
The Chinese Development Forum was led on Sunday and Monday. Apple The Tim Cook Executive Director was among the heads of attendance, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not.
“Increased optimism this year compared to last year on the CDF, it was just that warning of the heart,” said Ken Griffin, the Hedge Fund Citadel CEO during the official panel on the forum.
Trump is “dedicated to US companies that have access to the global market,” Griffin said. “And the president is ready to use tariffs to seek to spend this worldview.”
The first step towards the XI-Trump meeting?
Also on Sunday, American Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang In Beijing – For the first time, an American politician visited China since Trump started his last 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 Wall Street Journal. “When that happens and where it happens, it should be determined.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the commentary request.
Did he persuade the cooperation and said No one can get from a trade war, According to the state media.
FedEx Executive Director Raj Subramaniam, Senior Vice President of Boeing Nelson, CEO of Cargill, Brian Sikes Executive Director Geoffrey Martha, Pfizer Executive Albert Bourla, Director of Qualcommm Cristiano Amon, an output in ULO Scanlon.
China, the second world’s largest economy, remains a significant source of income for many multinational corporations, not to mention the main part of its supply chains.
Despite their efforts to strengthen international business ties, the country warned of countermeasures on US tariffs and took it incemental steps.
After US sanctions on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei during Trump’s first term as president, Beijing launched an unreliable list of entities that limits a foreign business activity with China.
China was added to the list by parents of Calvin Klein and several other US companies after this year’s tariff increases. On Monday, China also said that To discover new measures soon This would give him a legal basis for suppressing foreign pressure.
Economic factors
For US companies in China, the state of economic recovery is also an important factor of local business plans.
China has increased efforts to support the economy since September. The best policy creators earlier this month confirmed the plans of stimuli and a recent effort Encourage technological entrepreneurs in the private sector In the midst of the breakthrough of artificial intelligence Deepseek.
“This year you feel a lot of positive momentum that starts in China. So I feel like recovery is ongoing,” said Wenndell P. Weeks, Corning CEO for CNBC.
However, the Chinese economy struggled with deflation pressure and Real estate declineweighing regional prospects for growth for international companies.
Even Beijing’s pressure on the support of high-tech products so far has only added an average of 1.1 percentage points gross growing homemade product in each of the last three years-to compensate for a return of 1.7 percentage real estate points during that time, according to Goldman Sachs.
“We will remain optimistic because the role of technology is important, I think it is more than ever,” Qualcomm’s Amon told CNBC. “I think technology will be part of economic growth.”
