Bill Gates, Elon Musk and more flock to China despite U.S. rift, Nikkei Asia, Jun. 29, 2023.
SHUNSUKE TABETA, Nikkei staff writer
Beijing welcomes interest to spur post-COVID economic recovery
Washington and Beijing may have finally started making strides to repair their strained ties. But prominent Western business leaders have been doubling down on opportunities in China for some time, with an eye on its supersized market and manufacturing base.
Among those courting the country is Bill Gates, who visited China on June 16 for the first time in four years and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "We discussed the importance of addressing global health and development challenges, like health inequity and climate change, and how China can play a role in achieving progress for people everywhere," the Microsoft co-founder wrote on his blog of the meeting.
His visit came days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's highly anticipated trip to China, intended to help steer bilateral ties back on track.
Microsoft marked its 30th anniversary of its operations in China in 2022. While Gates is no longer involved in running the company, he has continued with efforts to mitigate the impact of U.S.-China tensions on business.
Fellow tech mogul Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, made his first trip to China in three years at the end of May. Around 40% of Tesla's output capacity is located at its Shanghai plant.
Musk told Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang that Tesla "is opposed to decoupling and cutting off supply chains, and is ready to continuously expand business in China," according to a release by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Musk's and Gates' trips came after Beijing lifted zero-COVID restrictions on visitors in January, driving an uptick in business travel to the country.
U.S.-China trade in goods grew around 5% in 2022 to roughly $690 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The figure topped records for the first time in four years, following a dip during the coronavirus pandemic.
While the Biden administration has imposed trade restrictions on China relating to semiconductors and other advanced technologies, companies have continued to explore new opportunities in the country in other areas.
During a visit to Shanghai in May, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon signaled that the bank had no plans to leave China. "When we do business in a country ... we're there hopefully through good times and bad times," he said.
In 2021, JPMorgan received approval to become the first foreign financial institution to fully own a securities venture in China. Despite growing uncertainties in the Chinese market, brokerage commissions there remain a major draw for the company.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger have also visited China in recent months.
The Xi administration rolled out the red carpet for the executives, arranging meetings for them with top government officials. With the Chinese economy struggling to recover from zero-COVID, Xi sees foreign investment and technology as key to ensuring stable economic growth and countering any U.S.-led efforts to unlink supply chains from the country.
Meanwhile in Europe, Peter Wennink, CEO of Dutch chipmaking equipment maker ASML, and Jean-Marc Chery, CEO of Swiss semiconductor company STMicroelectronics, have visited China in recent months. STMicroelectronics on June 7 announced plans to jointly build a plant with a local partner in southwestern China's Chongqing.
And in April, French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to China with a delegation of leading business executives including the head of Airbus. The aircraft maker agreed with local authorities to build a new assembly line in northwestern China's Tianjin, and received approval to deliver 160 jets.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also visited China with business leaders last fall. China reciprocated by sending a delegation led by Premier Li Qiang to Germany on June 20.
Still, many businesses remain concerned that tensions between China and the U.S. could drag on, and are exploring alternatives to the country.
Sequoia Capital has decided to split off its China division. The U.S. venture capital firm has a stake in Bytedance, the Chinese parent of video platform TikTok.
AstraZeneca is considering breaking off its business in China and listing it in either Hong Kong or Shanghai, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Many tech companies, including Apple, are also expanding supply chains in Southeast Asia and India to reduce their dependence on mainland China.