Chinese President Xi Jinping is to make his first state visit to the US next week. Before showing up at the White House, his first stop is Seattle, where he will spend a jam-packed 36 hours talking tech, including a round table meeting with some of China’s most powerful CEOs and their US counterparts. Tensions have mounted between executives from the two countries over everything from cyber-spying to censorship to intellectual property, so there will be plenty for them to discuss.
The two-hour dialogue, hosted by the Paulson Institute, founded by former treasury secretary Henry F. Paulson, will be held Sept. 23. A third of the attendees from China are from the tech and internet sectors.
| CEO | Company | Industry |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Ma | Alibaba | Internet |
| Lu Guanqiu | Wanxiang | Automotive |
| Ma Huateng | Tencent | Internet |
| Yang Yuanqin | Lenovo | Computer hardware |
| Wang Yusuo | ENN Energy Holdings | Natural gas |
| Ma Zehua | COSCO | Shipping |
| Guan Qin | CSCEC | Construction |
| Wan Long | Shuanghui Group | Meat processing |
| Tian Guoli | Bank of China | Banking |
| Jiang Jianqing | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China | Banking |
| Pan Gang | Yili Group | Dairy |
| Robin Li | Baidu | Internet |
| Liang Haishan | Haier Group | Electronics home appliances |
| Wang Jinshu | Yuhuang Chemical | Chemicals |
| Li Qiang | Tianjin Pipe Group | Steel pipe making |
And six of the US attendees are from the tech and internet sectors:
| CEO | Company | Industry |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Barra | General Motors | Automotive |
| Jeff Bezos | Amazon | Internet |
| Warren Buffett | Berkshire Hathaway | Conglomerate |
| John Chambers | Cisco Systems Inc. | Networking equipment |
| Tim Cook | Apple Inc. | Consumer electronics |
| Dave Cote | Honeywell | Conglomerate |
| Bob Iger | The Walt Disney Company | Mass media & Entertainment |
| Ellen Kullman | DuPont | Chemicals |
| Andrew Liveris | The Dow Chemical Company | Chemicals |
| Satya Nadella | Microsoft | Computer software |
| Indra Nooyi | PepsiCo | Beverages |
| Dennis Muilenberg | The Boeing Company | Aerospace |
| Tom Pritzker | Hyatt Hotels Corporation | Hospitality |
| Ginni Rometty | IBM Corporation | Computer hardware |
| Howard Schultz | Starbucks | Coffee |
Conspicuously missing from both lists are executives from the biggest companies in both countries: Sinopec, China National Petroleum, Walmart, and Exxon. During Xi’s visit to Europe last March, he was accompanied by over 200 Chinese business leaders, many from the energy sector.
Xi will deliver a policy speech at the meeting while Paulson will moderate a discussion with the business leaders, the institution says.
Tech companies at the meeting will “inevitably” talk about cyber security issues, as the Chinese Communist Party’s leading mouthpiece People’s Daily writes on its Wechat account (link in Chinese), but they, and companies in other sectors, will also get “broad space for cooperation.”