Chinese President Xi to Meet U.S. Executives During State Visit

BEIJING—Chinese President Xi Jinping will rub shoulders with U.S. executives in Seattle during his state visit to the U.S. this month, highlighting Beijing's efforts to engage businesses amid U.S. complaints about waning access to the Chinese market.

Among the meetings on Mr. Xi's Seattle agenda are a Sept. 23 roundtable organized by The Paulson Institute and a Chinese trade promotion group, hosted by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Fifteen chief executives of U.S. companies and the same number from Chinese companies will participate, said people familiar with the event plans.

The U.S. companies participating in the two-hour discussion come from a broad cross-section of industries including automotive, entertainment, finance, technology, chemicals, consumer goods and aircraft, said someone close to the negotiations over the meeting. Chinese participants include the heads of Internet giants such as e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., search firm Baidu Inc., as well as leaders of banks, food companies and steel and construction enterprises, another person familiar with the planning said. Alibaba and Baidu declined to comment.

The person close to the negotiations said companies on both sides are expected to raise concerns about gaining greater access to each other's markets and their views on China's efforts to push through difficult economic reforms to bolster long-term growth. Foreign businesses in the U.S. have complained that a new cybersecurity law and new bank technology rules that Chinese officials have discussed would be too onerous for them.

Observers say such forums usually elicit limited candor from business executives wary of too openly airing their criticisms to Chinese officials. But many U.S. businesses with an interest in China are keen on more dialogue with Chinese officials as tensions between the two governments rise, a person from the U.S. business community said. "It's a group of people coming together to actually talk about things" rather than leave such discussions to government officials, the person said.

Mr. Xi's visit comes amid heightened tensions with the Obama administration over a variety of issues including cybersecurity and trade policies. The White House is preparing sanctions against Chinese companies that officials believe benefited from the cybertheft of U.S. corporate secrets, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Obama is also expected to raise issues like the new cybersecurity law and constraints on U.S. companies and nongovernmental organizations in his meeting with Mr. Xi, said U.S. officials. China says it a victim, not a perpetrator, of hacking, and has cited rising security concerns for many of its moves.

In Seattle, Mr. Xi is also attending a dinner organized by trade groups on the evening of Sept. 22 and the following night will be hosted by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates at Mr. Gates' home, according to people familiar with the planning. He will also likely tour Boeing Co. and Microsoft, before leaving for Washington DC the next day, they said.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. A Boeing spokesman said the company has "not received any confirmation of a visit by President Xi to Seattle."

Separately from the morning roundtable, Mr. Xi will also meet chief executives of Chinese and U.S. companies on the afternoon of Sept. 23, said one person familiar with the plans.

Microsoft and Cisco Systems Inc. are scheduled to be among the attendees of the afternoon meeting, according to one tentative itinerary viewed by The Wall Street Journal. A Cisco spokesman said the company expects to be represented in activities associated with the president's visit, but there were no immediate details.

An Apple spokeswoman said Chief Executive Tim Cook plans to attend a meeting with Mr. Xi in Seattle though details were unclear.

Mr. Xi's visit to Seattle coincides with the annual U.S.-China Internet Industry Forum, a technology conference co-sponsored by Microsoft and the Internet Society of China, a semiofficial organization of Internet companies. The forum is being held earlier in the year than usual and appears to be timed to Mr. Xi's trip. Zhang Hongjiang, chief executive of Chinese software maker Kingsoft Corp., said he will attend the forum on Sept. 23. Multiple people familiar with the matter said it was unclear if Mr. Xi would attend the event. The Internet Society of China didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily briefing on Wednesday that he had "no detailed information" about the conference when asked about it at a regular briefing Wednesday in Beijing.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that technology executives would attend the Internet conference.

Yang Jie in Beijing and Jon Ostrower in Washington contributed to this article.

Write to Gillian Wong at [e-mail] and Eva Dou at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 10, 2015 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT)

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