China's President Xi meets US executives, academics in Beijing

China's President Xi Jinping met with U.S. executives and academics at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, state media reported, following on from a November dinner with U.S. executives in San Francisco.

 

The meeting began at 11 a.m. (0300 GMT) following the taking of a group photo, the report said. An accompanying video showed the attendees would be sat in a square formation, with the two fully visible sides both set out with seven seats each.

A large red, orange and green floral installation sits in between the four tables, the video showed, in a room in the Great Hall of the People reserved for important functions.

The chief executive of U.S. insurer Chubb Evan Greenberg, Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council are among those attending the meeting, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The audience with Xi follows Chinese Premier Li Qiang not meeting visiting foreign CEOs at the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 24-25, which prompted concerns over transparency in the world's second-largest economy.

The chance to exchange views with Beijing's second-ranking leader had become a key element of the summit in previous years.

Foreign businesses have been trying to reconcile Chinese leaders' public overtures towards overseas investment with the rolling out of a broader anti-espionage law, raids on consultancies and due diligence firms, and exit bans.

Xi received a standing ovation when he dined with U.S. executives at a dinner hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations in November.