BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink and Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook are among the top US executives set to be seated at President Xi Jinping’s table, as the Chinese leader tries to woo foreign capital at a dinner in San Francisco.
The prominent business chiefs at the top table Wednesday night will be joined by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, according to a program seen by Bloomberg News.
Other big names granted a place beside China’s most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong at the event include Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Inc., Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, and Peng Zhao of Citadel Securities.
The Chinese leader will have the chance to talk up his nation’s economy to some of the world’s most-powerful foreign investors at the event, after a post-pandemic reopening expected to spur global growth failed to deliver.
Beijing has stepped up efforts to attract foreign investors this year, pledging again this week to strengthen policies to attract overseas capital. Its tightening of national security controls and state messaging that foreign actors pose spy risks, along with years of policy crackdowns, have left some skeptical of that message.
Xi heads into the dinner hours after wrapping an afternoon of talks with US President Joe Biden, aimed at stabilizing a turbulence in the bilateral relationship that has troubled investors.
Biden said the two countries had come to important agreements on fighting fentanyl distribution, resuming military to military communications at a senior level, and establishing an understanding where either leader could call the other directly to resolve any miscommunication.
China described the meetings as “candid and in-depth exchange of views” and said “one country’s success is an opportunity for the other,” according to a statement released by the nation’s Foreign Ministry.
