Chinese President Xi to Meet U.S. Executives During State Visit
September 10 2015 - 8:50AM
Dow Jones News
BEIJING—Chinese President Xi Jinping will rub shoulders with
U.S. executives in Seattle during his state visit to the U.S. this
month, highlighting Beijing's efforts to engage businesses amid
U.S. complaints about waning access to the Chinese market.
Among the meetings on Mr. Xi's Seattle agenda are a Sept. 23
roundtable organized by The Paulson Institute and a Chinese trade
promotion group, hosted by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank
Paulson. Fifteen chief executives of U.S. companies and the same
number from Chinese companies will participate, said people
familiar with the event plans.
The U.S. companies participating in the two-hour discussion come
from a broad cross-section of industries including automotive,
entertainment, finance, technology, chemicals, consumer goods and
aircraft, said someone close to the negotiations over the meeting.
Chinese participants include the heads of Internet giants such as
e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., search firm Baidu
Inc., as well as leaders of banks, food companies and steel and
construction enterprises, another person familiar with the planning
said. Alibaba and Baidu declined to comment.
The person close to the negotiations said companies on both
sides are expected to raise concerns about gaining greater access
to each other's markets and their views on China's efforts to push
through difficult economic reforms to bolster long-term growth.
Foreign businesses in the U.S. have complained that a new
cybersecurity law and new bank technology rules that Chinese
officials have discussed would be too onerous for them.
Observers say such forums usually elicit limited candor from
business executives wary of too openly airing their criticisms to
Chinese officials. But many U.S. businesses with an interest in
China are keen on more dialogue with Chinese officials as tensions
between the two governments rise, a person from the U.S. business
community said. "It's a group of people coming together to actually
talk about things" rather than leave such discussions to government
officials, the person said.
Mr. Xi's visit comes amid heightened tensions with the Obama
administration over a variety of issues including cybersecurity and
trade policies. The White House is preparing sanctions against
Chinese companies that officials believe benefited from the
cybertheft of U.S. corporate secrets, according to people familiar
with the matter. Mr. Obama is also expected to raise issues like
the new cybersecurity law and constraints on U.S. companies and
nongovernmental organizations in his meeting with Mr. Xi, said U.S.
officials. China says it a victim, not a perpetrator, of hacking,
and has cited rising security concerns for many of its moves.
In Seattle, Mr. Xi is also attending a dinner organized by trade
groups on the evening of Sept. 22 and the following night will be
hosted by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates at Mr. Gates' home,
according to people familiar with the planning. He will also likely
tour Boeing Co. and Microsoft, before leaving for Washington DC the
next day, they said.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. A Boeing spokesman
said the company has "not received any confirmation of a visit by
President Xi to Seattle."
Separately from the morning roundtable, Mr. Xi will also meet
chief executives of Chinese and U.S. companies on the afternoon of
Sept. 23, said one person familiar with the plans.
Microsoft and Cisco Systems Inc. are scheduled to be among the
attendees of the afternoon meeting, according to one tentative
itinerary viewed by The Wall Street Journal. A Cisco spokesman said
the company expects to be represented in activities associated with
the president's visit, but there were no immediate details.
An Apple spokeswoman said Chief Executive Tim Cook plans to
attend a meeting with Mr. Xi in Seattle though details were
unclear.
Mr. Xi's visit to Seattle coincides with the annual U.S.-China
Internet Industry Forum, a technology conference co-sponsored by
Microsoft and the Internet Society of China, a semiofficial
organization of Internet companies. The forum is being held earlier
in the year than usual and appears to be timed to Mr. Xi's trip.
Zhang Hongjiang, chief executive of Chinese software maker Kingsoft
Corp., said he will attend the forum on Sept. 23. Multiple people
familiar with the matter said it was unclear if Mr. Xi would attend
the event. The Internet Society of China didn't immediately reply
to a request for comment.
China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily
briefing on Wednesday that he had "no detailed information" about
the conference when asked about it at a regular briefing Wednesday
in Beijing.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that technology
executives would attend the Internet conference.
Yang Jie in Beijing and Jon Ostrower in Washington contributed
to this article.
Write to Gillian Wong at gillian.wong@wsj.com and Eva Dou at
eva.dou@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 10, 2015 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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