Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech to 30 corporate leaders from the U.S. and China, vowed to push ahead with reforms aimed at strengthening business ties between the two countries.
At the end of August, 65,000 U.S. enterprises had invested a total of $76 billion in China, Xi told the gathering at a downtown Seattle hotel Wednesday. He emphasized that 1,600 Chinese companies are operating in America, creating 80,000 full-time jobs.
“China-U.S. business cooperation has enormous potential,” Xi said, emphasizing that relations have shifted from strictly trade to also include investment. “The long-term positive trend of the Chinese economy will not change. We are clearly aware of the risks and challenges in the Chinese economy. … In the long run, the fundamentals of the Chinese economy are good and sound.”
The attendees included the chief executive officers of some of the most visible brands in both nations, which conducted $620.9 billion in trade with one another last year.
Put together, their companies represent a combined market value of more than $3 trillion. The meeting preceded a summit this week in Washington with President Barack Obama.
While the governments creep farther apart on issues of cyber-espionage and human rights, the two economies have become more intertwined, increasing the importance of cooperation.
Xi delivered a speech in Seattle on Tuesday night in which he sought to ease concerns on many disputes between the two powers, including one of the thorniest issues, cybersecurity.
“We really look forward to working with the United States to start a Sino-U.S. digital cooperation plan,” Lu Wei, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, told 200 executives and officials at a separate conference on Microsoft Corp.’s campus near Seattle.
The summit Wednesday drew some of the wealthiest people in the world to the same room.
Billionaire Warren Buffett attended, as did Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Inc.
Buffett counts on goods from China to fill freight trains owned by his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Bezos invested in a Chinese expansion but has since set his sights on India.
