Senior Chinese financial officials conducted meetings with top executives from major American banking firms during discussions in Beijing, according to state media reports released Saturday.
The head of China’s securities regulatory agency and Beijing’s party secretary engaged in conversations with Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, focusing on expanding collaboration in wealth management services and international financing arrangements, government-backed news outlets reported.
Fraser participated as part of a business delegation that joined U.S. President Donald Trump during his presidential visit to China, marking the first such trip by an American president since his previous journey to the country in 2017.
The business delegation included top executives from major corporations such as Apple, Meta, Boeing, Cargill and Goldman Sachs, highlighting the significance of Chinese markets despite ongoing diplomatic challenges involving trade disputes, artificial intelligence concerns and wider geopolitical conflicts.
“The summit served as a crucial window for attending U.S. CEOs to reinforce corporate diplomacy and directly position their strategic asks with top Chinese authorities,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, a Beijing-based managing director at Ankura China Advisors.
According to the state-backed Beijing Youth Daily, Beijing Party Secretary Yin Li expressed China’s interest in seeing Citigroup broaden its operations and assist in drawing additional international businesses and investment into the nation.
Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), also conducted discussions with Fraser, during which they shared perspectives on topics including worldwide economic and financial conditions and China’s efforts to open its capital markets, the regulatory agency announced.
In a separate meeting, the vice governor of the People’s Bank of China and the director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange held talks with David Solomon, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, according to a statement from the foreign exchange regulatory body.
Following his departure from Beijing on Friday, Trump informed reporters aboard Air Force One that China had committed to purchasing 200 Boeing aircraft, with the possibility of expanding the order to as many as 750 planes. If completed, these orders would represent Boeing’s first significant Chinese contract in almost ten years.
