China’s Unspoken Ambition at Xi’s Meeting with Global CEOs
President Xi Jinping held a high-profile meeting in Beijing on March 28th with over 40 of the world’s top executives, echoing a similar meeting last year. Though Western media, out of habit, dismisses it as an act of desperate courting, anyone who takes an earnest interest in China wouldn’t pass up this opportunity to sniff out China’s underlying messages. I see it as nothing short of a manifesto-China is ready to be the leader, not a follower, in the business world.
Integrating Global Supply Chain
Among all attendees, seven business leaders spoke at Xi’s meeting-Amin Nasser from Saudi Aramco, Toshiaki Higashihara from Hitachi, Paul Hudson from Sanofi, Raj Subramaniam from FedEx, Ola Källenius from Mercedes-Benz, Noel Quinn from HSBC, Kwak Noh-Jung from SK Hynix. They were also standing at the front row in the official photo released by China’s state media-most likely Beijing’s appreciative nod to its old friends, given that these seven companies have, on average, operated in China for over 20 years.
Adding Eduardo Bartolomeo from Vale, the front-row attendees in the group photo piece together a global manufacturing supply chain, with each representing a company spanning eight industries—logistics, automotive, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, finance, industrials, energy, and raw materials—across eight countries.
Beijing’s ambition in promoting global integration is palpable. Last year, only representatives from the US. received the invitation to Xi’s meeting. This year’s meeting saw 4 representatives from the U.S., 15 from Europe, and 5 from Asia. Not only did European attendees significantly outnumbered that from the U.S., Japanese and Korean companies were also given the platform, a signal that Beijing wishes to see deeper East Asian industrial integration. Saudi Aramco and Vale stood out as testament to China’s commitment to broader economic cooperation with the Middle East and Latin America.
Redefine “Made-In-China”
In the sole official photo showing attendees’ entry into the meeting venue, China’s state media photographed Raj Subramaniam from FedEx Corporation, Paul Hudson from French pharma giant Sanofi, and Ola Källenius from Mercedes-Benz Group AG walking with Chinese President Xi Jinping. One rule of thumb when reading news about China is that one can never read too much into official photos. Take Mercedes-Benz for example, Chinese companies have now become an inalienable part of the company’s intelligent driving venture-with Chinese companies providing an array of advanced technologies ranging from chips, algorithm, facial recognition to the battery system. The epitome of the partnership is the company’s Shanghai Intelligent R&D Center inaugurated last year. Ahead of Xi’s meeting, Mercedes-Benz Chairman Ola Källenius met with Beijing Party Secretary Yin Li, attended China’s key business summit (CDF), and published an article in China’s state-owned media People’s Daily. The amount of weight given to this partnership reflects China’s ambition to reshape the global automotive industry—not by exporting cheap, made-in-China products, but by exporting rules. And more importantly, fairer rules.
The same logic applies to FedEx, as China eyes a leadership role in global e-commerce. Before meeting with Xi, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam reportedly met with Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng and Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong—Guangzhou being FedEx’s Asia-Pacific hub, and Shanghai having become its new China headquarters just last year.
No keen analyst is needed to unravel this: China isn’t seeking just any foreign companies—it’s choosing those that can help it restructure business sectors, old and new alike. With them, China hopes to draft industry rules distinct from those long dominated by the West. Just another propaganda meeting in the eyes of those who can’t see it—but a declaration of independence for those who can.
Editor: huyueyue
