Amid geopolitical tensions, China is batting its eyelashes at the heads of major Western companies. Whether these welcoming speeches will be enough to convince them remains to be seen. On Sunday, March 24, and Monday, March 25, the heads of multinational corporations, including American ones, attended the China Development Forum in Beijing.

Since 2000, the Chinese authorities have used this platform to present their economic priorities to the business community. The 2024 edition of the event was attended by some of the world's top business leaders, including Apple's Tim Cook, Pfizer's Albert Bourla and Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman.

These influential figures heard a speech by Premier Li Qiang explaining China's new economic doctrine. The "new productive forces," as the name suggests, focus on production rather than consumption, even though many economists believe the latter should be given greater support to revive the Middle Kingdom's economy.

Increased domestic production has already become a source of trade conflicts with the West and the European Union in particular, which is currently investigating subsidies to electric car factories by various levels of the Chinese state ahead of the imposition of likely customs duties later in the year. But that's not all: In early March, Brazil launched an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese steel deliveries.

International Monetary Fund Director General Kristalina Georgieva used this opportunity to issue a warning: "China faces a fork in the road." She suggested strengthening the social safety net for Chinese families to enable them to increase their consumption and give more room to the private sector.

The CEOs did not enjoy the traditional private, extended discussion with the prime minister as in other years. Instead, according to the Wall Street Journal, some of them may be received by President Xi Jinping on March 27. This change sends a double message.

On one side, it's a sign that international companies' concerns are being heard at the highest level. On the flip side, this meeting, if it happens, is a further illustration of the complete centralization of Chinese power, one year after Xi began his third term in office.

China attracted 215 billion yuan (€27.5 billion) in foreign investment in the first two months of 2024, down 19.9% from the same period a year ago, according to data released on March 22 by the Ministry of Commerce.

In a move designed to send out a positive signal, Beijing relaxed the rules governing state control over the transfer of customer data to and from companies abroad on Friday: Data on their purchases, payments, flight bookings or hotel nights will in the end not have to be submitted to the regulator, as many foreign players had feared.

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