American CEOs Get Ready to Go to Beijing. But Who Will Receive Them?
It is the time of year when throngs of Western corporate chieftains and big-name investors descend on Beijing to pay homage to China’s leadership. This time, the focus will be just as much on who is there to greet them. Chief executives including Tim Cook of Apple, Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm, Albert Bourla of Pfizer and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, as well as Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio, are expected to attend the annual government-sponsored China Development Forum that starts on Sunday in Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter.
Insurer Chubb’s CEO, Evan Greenberg, will co-chair the event with a representative for the Chinese organizer, the people said. Many of the expected attendees are repeat guests at the annual gathering bringing together global business elites and the country’s policymakers. This year, they are gathering as business ties between the U.S.
and China are at a low point, exemplified most recently by a U.S. congressional push to force a sale of Chinese-owned TikTok. With China’s economy in the doldrums and more Western capital leaving, Beijing will seek to use the forum to help attract and keep foreign investment.
But for now, even the Chinese sponsor, a high-level think tank directly under the State Council, China’s cabinet, is unsure about which senior leader—President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang or someone else entirely—will participate in the event and meet with the CEOs, the people familiar with the matter said. The State Council and the organizer, China Development Research Foundation, didn’t respond to requests for comment. While it isn’t unusual for Chinese authorities to only confirm leaders’ attendance at a given event at the last minute, the uncertainty is
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