Xi Jinping Pledges Greater Market Access to U.S. CEOs Traveling with Trump to China

Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. CEOs traveling with President Trump to China that the country will open further to American business, a priority for executives aiming to grow in the world's second-largest economy.

Xi met the group of chief executives, which includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, according to a Thursday statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The executives, whose combined net worth nears $1 trillion, run companies with big stakes in China despite years of trade disputes between the two largest economies.

China's commitment to more foreign business follows escalating trade tensions with the U.S., including the Trump administration's raise of tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 125% last year after Trump said China "was taking us for a ride."

U.S. companies still view China's growing middle class and huge consumer base as vital markets for expansion, even as profits shrink from struggling consumers in the U.S. and other developed nations.

The White House said several American business leaders joined part of a larger meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials. "The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment," a White House official said in a meeting readout.

The CEOs with Trump include Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, GE Aerospace CEO Lawrence Culp Jr., BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Visa CEO Ryan McInerney, Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen.

Analysts at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, said China could ease tensions through steps like increased trade and tariff changes in non-sensitive areas. "We continue to expect the two sides to announce increased trade and tariff adjustments in non-sensitive sectors, including Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products (including beef), Boeing aircraft and energy," they wrote in a report.

China might also relax rules on foreign financial firms, cut antitrust hurdles or approve full autonomous driving for Tesla, the analysts added.

The trip has yielded early wins. Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday that China agreed to buy 200 Boeing 737 Max jets, up from a prior deal for 50. Trump added that Xi agreed to purchase more soybeans, helping U.S. farmers hit by China's year-ago halt on the crop.

Business leaders often join U.S. presidents on such trips. During President Obama's 2015 India visit, dozens of CEOs attended a trade summit. President Bill Clinton took executives from General Motors, IBM and Microsoft to India in 2000. Trump brought bank, energy and tech leaders to China in 2017.

"It's not unusual for CEOs to travel with the president, and I think it speaks to the fact that the Chinese-U.S. relationship is highly dependent on the countries' business relationship," Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told CBS News. "We are the two largest economies on the planet, and how we interact with each other largely determines how our economies and the global economy are going to perform."

The executives' presence could open communication lines between U.S. firms and Chinese officials, Zandi said. "I don't think there is a very high bar here for success," he added. "They just have to come away thinking they now have a channel to communicate quickly and they can trust each other."

The CEOs seek higher sales to Chinese customers and businesses plus key manufacturing and trade deals. Apple leads smartphones in China but competes with Huawei and Xiaomi. The company depends on partners like Foxconn for most production.

Nvidia wants more access to China's AI market as U.S. export controls threaten its advanced chip sales, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said. "What is at stake is not just one trip or one headline but the direction of AI supply chains, the shape of future export controls and the degree to which US chip leadership remains monetizable in China," Ives wrote.

Financial firms are there too, including BlackRock's Fink and Citigroup's Fraser. BlackRock eyes China's wealth and retirement sectors amid scrutiny in both capitals. Citigroup seeks financial market access for cross-border deals.

"We have had huge interest and a large number of investors and companies coming to China to understand what's happening here, as well as the Chinese companies and investors that are looking much more externally now," Fraser told Bloomberg News last year.

Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen, the sole biotech representative, said export curbs have cut DNA-sequencing sales in China. "We want to be a part of China," Thaysen told Bloomberg last year.