Foreign CEOs to flock to China for key summit, Xi meeting, sources say

Dozens of foreign CEOs will visit Beijing this month for a flagship development conference where some are expected to meet President Xi Jinping, according to a draft agenda and three sources familiar with the matter.

The annual China Development Forum will take place on March 23-24 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the capital, two sources told Reuters. Beijing is keen to attract foreign investment at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, as policymakers try to boost domestic consumption to offset fresh U.S. tariff pressure.

Those attending include the CEOs of FedEx, Siemens, automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz, chip designer Qualcomm, AstraZeneca, Nestle, Saudi Aramco, Citadel, Rio Tinto, McKinsey, Estee Lauder, Standard Chartered and KPMG, according to a draft agenda seen by Reuters. The chairman of Deutsche Bank is also on the list.

A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that CEO and Chairman Ola Kallenius would attend the forum. A spokesperson for pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca declined to comment on whether the CEO was attending and meeting Xi.

BMW's China chief Sean Green will also attend, according to people familiar with the matter, adding CEO Oliver Zipse would make clear to the Chinese government that the German carmaker planned to continue to support the market. BMW declined to comment.

None of the other firms immediately responded to requests for comment.

Top executives of several major mining, engineering and healthcare firms will also take part, according to the draft agenda, which could be subject to last-minute changes, one of the sources said. Compared to previous years, a higher proportion of European CEOs are represented.

Xi is likely to meet a select group of foreign chief executives days after the summit, which could include European and British CEOs, said one source, adding that the list of attendees and timings could be subject to last-minute changes. Reuters was not able to determine the list of overseas CEOs expected to meet Xi.

US President Donald Trump imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese exports this month, prompting China to retaliate with additional duties on American agriculture products.

Foreign direct investment into China fell 13.4% year-on-year in January, according to official data released last month.

"Any trip to China by American CEOs would be very low-key given the current heightened scrutiny on American investment in China from Washington," said the source, adding that fewer US CEOs would attend this year.

The CEOs of American chip giants Micron and AMD were not listed on the draft agenda, despite having attended last year. The firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

American firms subject to current investigations or scrutiny by Chinese authorities including Google, Illumina, PVH and Walmart were also not on the draft agenda.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is not likely to meet with foreign CEOs this year, the source added, after he skipped a customary meeting last year - one of the rare opportunities for foreign executives to have face time with a top Chinese official.

"I think it's still important for the Chinese to showcase their interest in foreign businesspeople but it's hard to see how there is a real dialogue going on," Joerg Wuttke, partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group and former president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, told reporters in Shanghai on Monday.

"It would be nice if (Xi) has a new message of real openness and the question is would he do this. In the European business community we've coined this phrase 'promise fatigue'."

On the sidelines of last year's forum, Xi told around 20 American CEOs that China's growth prospects remained bright and dismissed concerns of a "China peak theory".

This year's visit marks a rare interaction between American CEOs and Chinese government representatives as high-level meetings have dwindled since Trump took office. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi did not meet any American government counterparts during a visit to New York last month.

EMPHASIS ON CONSUMPTION

Notable domestic attendees listed on this year's draft agenda include CEO of Unitree Robotics Wang Xingxing and Miranda Qu, the CEO of social media app RedNote, which became a sensation in the US earlier this year as ByteDance-owned TikTok was on the cusp of being banned.

RedNote and Unitree did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wang attended a rare meeting Xi held with some of China's biggest tech firm CEOs last month. The tightly choreographed pro-business rally sent a strong signal of support to China's embattled tech sector and reflected policymakers' concern about US efforts to limit China's technological development, analysts said.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan as well as senior officials from the IMF and World Bank will also attend, according to the draft agenda.

This year's draft forum agenda includes themed seminars on the development of China's medical sector and boosting domestic consumption.

Chinese policymakers have made expanding domestic demand their top priority this year as they try to cushion the impact of the US tariffs on its crucial export engine.

China's top leaders have maintained an economic growth target of around 5% for 2025, but analysts say that may be a tall order given pressure on exports, tepid household demand and a protracted property crisis.

Retail sales for January-February grew 4.0% according to official data, marking the quickest rate since November 2024.

Chinese officials told reporters Monday that China will shift its consumption policy to strengthen efforts from the demand side, not the supply side.

On Sunday, China unveiled a "special action plan" to boost domestic consumption, featuring measures including establishing a childcare subsidy scheme.