Days after he opened an expansive new retail store in Shanghai and pledged a fresh investment in applied research in the country, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook on Sunday gushed, “I love it here, I love the Chinese people.”
“It’s so vibrant and so dynamic here,” Cook told journalists as he entered the opening session of the China Development Forum, a top annual gathering of business leaders and Chinese officials. Apple has faced expanding restrictions on iPhone use at government agencies and state-backed companies and sales of the smartphone tumbled 24% in the first six weeks of the year.
The CDF confab is one of a series this week that offer China a chance to rekindle overseas interest in the nation after an historic slump in foreign investment.
For global executives, the meetings are a chance to underscore interest in participating in the giant Chinese market despite deepening geopolitical tensions and moves in China to favor local competitors. Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla called China “an extremely attractive place.” Nestle SA’s Mark Schneider lauded plans to boost Chinese consumption.
Premier Li Qiang delivered an address in the Sunday session, assuring attendees at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse that China’s economic recovery has been improving, while recognizing some challenges. Later this week, Beijing hosts the Invest in China summit, followed by the annual Boao Forum for Asia on the southern resort island of Hainan.The China Development Forum, which ended Monday, attracted 81 global CEOs to attend in person, largely rebounding to pre-pandemic levels. Li’s speech marked an upgrade of sorts — it’s usually a vice premier who delivers the keynote address — marking a contrast to the premier’s cancellation of a high-profile annual press conference involving the international press earlier this month. A report that Li wouldn’t attend a closed-door meeting with the foreign CEOs also spurred questions about his influence.Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies who attended the opening session, offered a mixed review.
Li’s address was “reassuring about demonstrating the Chinese government knows how serious domestic problems they face are — and the difficult geopolitical environment,” Kennedy said. But “there was still insufficient specifics and details around what changes to domestic policy they’ll make, and really no recognition that Chinese policies are generating global anxieties and increasing geostrategic tensions,” he said.
President Xi Jinping may offer his own remarks to executives later this week, with a potential sit-down on Wednesday. Meantime, Vice President Han Zheng is scheduled to speak at the Invest In China summit Tuesday.
For now, overseas business representatives were happy to endorse the messages received.
Nestle’s Schneider said Li’s remarks on access for international companies and on bringing back domestic consumption were “music to our ears.” Bourla of Pfizer praised China for having a “coherent, cohesive plan.”
The People’s Daily newspaper, an official mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party, touted the recent flurry of visits by foreign executives in a page-3 commentary on Monday that proclaimed the country as an indispensable market.
While International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called at the forum Sunday for more pro-market reforms, the People’s Daily characterized them as a nod to China’s “new-era of high-quality growth.”
The IMF chief was joined at the forum by World Bank President Ajay Banga, helping add to an appearance of re-engagement between Washington and Beijing months after the US-China presidential summit in San Francisco. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last year said the IMF and World Bank “reflect American values.” Yellen herself is expected to return for a visit to Beijing soon.
It marked a notable shift from last year, when a number of overseas corporate leaders were hesitant to attend the forum amid an escalation in US-China tensions.
“It was very important to have the premier here and speaking to business directly,” said Sean Stein, chair of the American Chamber of Commerce China. “The China Development Forum was always seen as the premier’s platform to talk with businesses on what’s happening in the economy, and that exchange goes all the way back to Zhu Rongji days,” he said, referring to a pro-reform former premier.