China investment gets a soft sell as authorities cajole and charm visiting foreign executives
- Procter & Gamble, Amway, private equity firms, petrochemicals and food packagers are among the many multinationals being buttered up in China’s major economic hubs
- The charm offensive is in line with Beijing’s attempt to shore up China’s economy this year against the backdrop of domestic uncertainties and geopolitical strife
China is reaching out and greasing the wheels of multinational commerce, keen on restoring foreign confidence in the world’s second-largest economy as it strives to stem domestic risks while growing in the face of geopolitical entanglements.
The charm offensive is taking place throughout the country. In recent weeks, regional economic powerhouses such as Beijing, Jiangsu and Guangdong have all hosted visiting business executives from the US, Taiwan, South Korea and Switzerland, in a bid to deepen cooperation that will lead to job growth and help shore up China’s economy.
They made their pitch.
“China is willing to provide better services to foreign enterprises and share the dividends of its huge market with global enterprises,” Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao vowed this week to Jon Moeller, chairman of Procter & Gamble, an American multinational consumer goods firm that was among those being hosted.
Before visiting Beijing, Moeller first stopped in Guangdong, where he talked with the provincial governor about further collaboration and trade ties between China and the US. The governor held similar talks with Milind Pant, global CEO of Amway.