By Eva Dou and Josh Chin
BEIJING -- Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook and Jon McNeill of Tesla Motors
were among dozens of western executives who spent a long and
unseasonably warm weekend here strolling the grounds where Mao
Zedong once lived, surrounded by blooming magnolia trees and
gliding swans.
The message they heard from top Chinese officials at the annual
China Development Forum was as temperate as the weather: China
remains open and eager for business, no matter the trade-war clouds
that might be gathering.
"China will push for a higher level of economic opening-up,"
Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said.
It was one of a string of speeches in which officials sought to
cast China as a new leader for globalization at a time when the
U.S. is expected to retreat from free trade and internationalism
under the Donald Trump administration. The speeches are part of a
broader charm offensive that is being met with cautious optimism by
U.S. executives, some of whom question China's motives or
willingness to follow through.
"We are obviously seeing very positive rhetoric for how China
sees its potential future place in the economy," said Jake Parker,
vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council, although he
added that companies were hedging their bets until they saw
concrete policy changes.
China also has been seeking to open lines of communication. Wang
Qishan, a member of the ruling Politburo Standing Committee and a
top ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping, gathered with a group of
U.S. and European executives in a private meeting Monday, according
to two people briefed on the matter.
And China's internet czar, Xu Lin, who has rarely appeared in
public since his appointment last year, had a series of meetings in
recent days with U.S. tech executives, including Mr. Cook, Apple's
CEO. Chinese government agencies didn't immediately respond to
requests for comment on the meetings attended by Messrs. Wang and
Xu.
Mr. Cook, uncharacteristically formal in a tie, introduced Mr.
Xu's closed-door speech on cybersecurity Monday in a villa of the
Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Chairman Mao's residence for a time.
Among those present were the chairmen of Ericsson AB and Foxconn
Technology Group, and Michelin's chief executive, according to
participants. Mr. Xu also met individually with some companies,
they said.
Mr. Xu's agency, the Cyberspace Administration of China,
influences areas ranging from online censorship to industrial
policy. Since his promotion in June, he has held few known meetings
with foreign tech executives. Several senior western diplomats said
their requests for meetings with him have met with silence.
While western executives find the increased communications
heartening, they are still skeptical about whether Beijing will
follow through with promises to open up more sectors to foreign
investment, some of the participants said.
In recent years, U.S. firms have had to partner with Chinese
companies if they wanted access to certain sectors. One such joint
venture was announced this weekend when International Business
Machines said it would partner with China's Dalian Wanda Group in
cloud computing, a sector that foreign companies can't operate
directly in China. IBM said that Wanda would deploy data centers
across China driven by IBM technology.
Other U.S. companies also showed support for China over the
weekend, with Apple announcing two new research centers in the
country. Microsoft said Tuesday it expected to soon begin sales of
a Chinese government version of Windows 10 modified to meet
Beijing's security needs.
Ericsson Chairman Leif Johansson said some sectors such as
automotives were opening up to foreign investment more slowly than
hoped, but that the general direction was positive.
Mr. Trump's calls for an "America First" economic policy has put
Chinese officials on their heels as they try to figure out
Washington's plan and how to respond. China's Foreign Ministry has
granted greater access to foreign media, and Beijing officials who
were previously rarely accessible have sought out meetings with
western executives.
"I think the Trump effect is real, and it's changed the
conversation," said James McGregor, China chairman for APCO
Worldwide, a communications and lobbying firm.
There are other factors that might explain China's new openness.
Foreign companies' interest in the China market has started to wane
at the same time Beijing is scrambling to stop domestic capital
from moving overseas.
Foreign direct investment grew 4.1% in China last year, down
from 6.4% in 2015, according to data provider Wind Financial
Information.
In January, shortly after President Xi gave a speech at the
World Economic Forum extolling the virtues of globalization,
China's State Council issued a flier saying it planned to ease
restrictions on foreign investment in certain areas of the economy,
including finance, transportation and mining.
A senior Chinese official in charge of industrial policy, Miao
Wei, surprised some in the foreign business community earlier this
month by saying "adjustments" needed to be made to Made in China
2025, a multibillion-dollar plan to make China self-sufficient in
strategic high-tech sectors like semiconductors and robotics.
Foreign business groups had criticized the plan as a protectionist
play that would skew the market.
But Mr. McGregor urged caution in accepting Beijing's overtures
at face value.
"Now that there's global political pressure, China seems to
pushing on opening up, but the openings are very clearly in areas
where China needs help," he said. "Then businesses have to ask
themselves, 'If I come in and help China, what happens five or 10
years down the road?'"
--Mark Magnier contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 21, 2017 11:53 ET (15:53 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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