China's Xi urges global CEOs to protect trade as Trump tariffs loom

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China's Xi met with foreign CEOs in Beijing

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Around 40 executives joined the meeting

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China has struggled to reassure foreign investors

(Adds comments from USCBC president in paragraphs 7, 18)

By Joe Cash and Casey Hall

BEIJING, March 28 (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping urged a gathering of multinational CEOs on Friday to protect global industry and supply chains, as Beijing seeks to assuage foreign firms' concerns over the Chinese economy's health amid threats of more U.S. tariffs.

Beijing is battling to dispel fears that a renewed trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump will further pinch growth in the world's second-largest economy, which has been struggling to recover since the pandemic.

Longstanding unease over China's tightening regulations, abrupt crackdowns on foreign firms, and an uneven playing field favouring state-owned Chinese companies are also sapping business sentiment.

"We need to work together to maintain the stability of global industry and supply chains, which is an important guarantee for the healthy development of the world economy," Xi told the business leaders, who included the bosses of AstraZeneca ( AZN ), FedEx ( FDX ), Saudi Aramco, Standard Chartered and Toyota.

Around 40 executives joined the meeting, the majority of whom represented the pharmaceuticals sector. The meeting ran for just over 90 minutes and seven companies were invited to speak, a source with direct knowledge of its planning said.

"The CEOs I spoke with, and I spoke with a lot of them, felt it was worth it," said Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council and one of the meeting's attendees. "Not only did the president acknowledge various challenges facing companies and industry, in many cases he pledged the government would take action."

The executives sat in a horseshoe formation, with Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius and FedEx's ( FDX ) Raj Subramaniam sitting directly across from Xi.

HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery, SK Hynix boss Kwak Noh-jung, Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser, and chair of Hitachi Toshiaki Higashihara also sat in the first row.

"This meeting is a big illustration of business diplomacy. Now there is not just dialogue between bodies, WTO entities and states, but diplomacy being led by companies that are not just representing themselves, but also their sectors," said Frank Bournois, VP and dean of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, adding that its success would depend on future actions and not just words.

The frequency of meetings between foreign executives and high-level Chinese officials has picked up over the past month, after official data showed foreign direct investment plummeted 27.1% year-on-year in local currency terms in 2024.

That marked the biggest drop in FDI since the 2008 global financial crisis.

"Foreign enterprises contribute one-third of China's imports and exports, one-quarter of industrial added value and one-seventh of tax revenue, creating more than 30 million jobs," Xi said.

"In recent years, foreign investment in China has also been interfered with by geopolitical factors... I often say that blowing out other people's lights does not make you brighter."

Trump has renewed his trade war with China since taking office and has announced a wave of fresh "reciprocal" tariffs to take effect on April 2, targeting countries with trade barriers on U.S. products, which could include China.

He imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese exports this month, prompting China to retaliate with additional duties on American agricultural products.

"The essence of China-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutually beneficial and win-win," Xi told the meeting.

The Chinese leader last year singled out American business leaders for an audience after the China Development Forum, but USCBC's Stein said such meetings were unlikely to become a routine fixture at the annual business summit, which this year ran from March 23-24.

"China's messaging is that it isn't an annual event and that businesses shouldn't expect it to be." (Reporting by Joe Cash Beijing and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Xiuhao Chen, Liz Lee and Bu Shi; Editing by Saad Sayeed, Stephen Coates and Mark Potter)