US Firms To Pay Tens Of Thousands

Top business leaders in the United States are expected to dine with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday as he seeks to court American companies and counter his country's recent struggles to entice foreign investment.

The dinner on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will follow a day of talks between Xi and US President Joe Biden, aimed at stabilizing fraught ties between the world's two largest economies.

For American businesses, it will be a chance to hear directly from China's leader as they search for ways to navigate China's economic slowdown, a US push to "de-risk" some American supply chains away from China, and uncertainty caused by expanding Chinese security rules.

"The purpose of the dinner is to foster better communication," one source close to the organizers told Reuters, declining to say who would speak while confirming representatives from both the Chinese and U.S. governments would share the podium.

But the event, yet to be formally announced by hosts US-China Business Council (USCBC) and the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR), also presents uneasy optics.

According to event notifications seen by Reuters, some US firms will pay tens of thousands of dollars to hear a "Chinese state leader" from a government that Washington has accused of genocide against Muslim Uyghurs. China has vigorously denied the accusations.