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

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By Joe Cash, Xiuhao Chen

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's President Xi Jinping urged a gathering of global CEOs on Friday to protect industrial and supply chains, as Beijing seeks to assuage foreign firms' concerns over the Chinese economy's health while Trump threatens further tariffs.

Beijing has struggled 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 whose recovery since the end of the pandemic has been less than robust.

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 industrial 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, FedEx, Saudi Aramco and Standard Chartered and Toyota.

"I hope everyone can take a broad perspective, not be swayed by transient distractions in the industry, and not blindly follow actions that disrupt the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains." 

Around 40 executives joined the meeting, the majority of which 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 executives sat in a horseshoe formation, with Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius and FedEx's 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.

"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."

Xi last year met with American business leaders after the China Development Forum, prompting questions about whether China's top leader meeting members of the global business community a few days after the annual business forum would become an annual fixture. China's second-ranking premier used to meet them to the CDF's sidelines.

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

Trump 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 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.

(Reporting by Joe Cash and Xiuhao Chen; Additional reporting by Liz Lee and Bu Shi; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Stephen Coates)