China Rolls Out Welcome Mat for U.S. CEOs as It Nods to Its Economic Problems


在中国发展高层论坛上，中国国务院总理李强坦率承认了围绕中国经济与日俱增的担忧，包括中国在房地产行业和地方政府债务方面面临的越来越大的风险。


周日，中国国务院总理李强在北京举行的中国发展高层论坛上。

中国本周召开了每年春季举行的中国发展高层论坛(China Development Forum)，会上，中国向美国和其他西方国家的企业高管宣介了中国的发展前景。与往年相比，今年的不同之处在于，比以往更高级别的官员更坦率地承认了围绕中国经济与日俱增的担忧。 6park.com
In an annual rite of spring, China this week has been pitching American and other Western corporate executives on the country’s prospects. The difference this year: a franker-than-usual recognition of the mounting concerns around China’s economy, from more senior-than-usual officials. 6park.com
 
周日，中国国务院总理李强在论坛上向苹果公司(Apple)、麦肯锡公司(McKinsey)、高通公司(Qualcomm)和其他跨国公司的高管发表了主旨演讲。中国发展高层论坛是由政府主办的经济和商业论坛，每年3月在中国首都北京举行。 6park.com
On Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a keynote speech before the top executives of Apple, McKinsey, Qualcomm and other multinationals at the China Development Forum, a government-sponsored economic and business forum held each March in the Chinese capital. 6park.com
   
李强是中国的二把手，也是自2000年中国发展高层论坛创办以来，在该论坛上发表演讲的最高级别领导人。李强今年出席该论坛，表明当前中国经济面临的风险有所上升。眼下中国的经济增长放缓，外商投资下降，人们对安全环境的担忧与日俱增。 6park.com
The presence this year of Li, China’s No. 2 official and the highest-ranking leader to address the forum since it started in 2000, hinted at the elevated stakes for the world’s second-largest economy, which has seen growth slow, foreign investment decline and fears grow around the security environment. 6park.com
   
不出所料，李强在讲话中大谈中国的巨大市场和长期增长前景。但令人惊讶的是，他承认了许多让外国高管保持观望的问题，也就是中国在房地产行业和地方政府债务方面面临的越来越大的风险。 6park.com
Li, as expected, touted the country’s massive market and its long-term growth prospects in his address. What was more surprising was his acknowledgment of many of the fears that have kept foreign executives on the sidelines: mounting risks that China faces in the real-estate sector and with local-government debt. 6park.com
   
据《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)报道，论坛结束后，习近平将于本周晚些时候会见一批美国商界领袖。习近平是李强的上司，也是几十年来中国最强势的领导人，这次会面将是美国商界高管当面聆听习近平讲话的难得机会。 6park.com
The forum is set to be followed by an audience later this week with Xi Jinping, The Wall Street Journal has reported—a rare opportunity for top American executives to hear directly from Li’s boss, the country’s most-powerful leader in a generation. 6park.com
   
在许多美国高管看来，现在的问题在于，除了在会议厅发表的主旨演讲以外，中国高层是否还会进一步展现这一姿态。在直接回应外国商界关心的一些问题时，李强表示中国将应对这些挑战，但没有提供很多新的细节。他也没有直接谈及安全问题或外界对中国产能过剩的担忧，而这两个问题是许多外国企业的核心关切。 6park.com
The question now for many of the executives is whether these gestures will amount to much beyond keynote speeches in conference halls. Li, while directly addressing some of the items on the foreign business community’s mind, was quick to add that China would tackle the challenges, without offering many new details. He also didn’t touch directly upon security concerns, or fears of China’s overcapacity, both of which have become central preoccupations for many foreign businesses.


苹果公司CEO库克，以及麦肯锡和高通公司等跨国公司的高管都出席了周日在北京举行的中国发展高层论坛。

即便如此，这种接触仍反映出中国迫切希望外国公司停止深度冻结对华投资。此前中国经历了持续多年的中美贸易战，疫情期间又连续三年关闭边境，而疫后重启的表现却不尽如人意，在这种情况下，许多美国企业和其他跨国公司纷纷搁置了对中国的新投资。重新开放后中国经济复苏乏力，引发了外界对中国经济长期增长轨迹的质疑。 6park.com
Even so, the engagement reflects China’s keen desire to snap foreign companies out of their investment deep freeze. Many American and other global companies have put new investments into China on hold after years of a U.S.-China trade war, three years of closed borders during the pandemic and a lackluster post-Covid reopening that raised questions about the country’s longer-term growth trajectory. 6park.com
   
去年，中国国内生产总值(GDP)增长5.2%，创下几十年来最低增速之一，房地产行业的长期放缓严重打击了消费者信心。 6park.com
Last year, China’s gross domestic product grew 5.2%, one of the lowest levels in decades, as a prolonged property-sector slowdown wreaks havoc on consumer confidence. 6park.com
撇开疲软的国内经济不谈，习近平对国家安全威胁的日益重视导致了一系列备受瞩目的行动，包括突击搜查、拘留和其他举措，随着美国公司在华业务面临中国政府更严格的审查，美企的担忧有所加剧。 6park.com
The ailing economy aside, Xi’s growing emphasis on national-security threats has led to a series of high-profile raids, detentions and other cases that have underscored worries among American firms as they face greater scrutiny at home over their footprint in China. 6park.com
  
这些不利因素已导致外商投资减少，2023年，以人民币计算的的外商投资额同比下降8%。今年1-2月的降幅更大，按人民币计算的外商投资额同比下降了20%。 6park.com
The headwinds have resulted in a drop in foreign investment, which fell 8% in 2023 from the previous year in yuan terms. The decline has steepened in the first two months of this year, declining 20% in yuan terms from the same period in 2023. 6park.com
   
在新投资枯竭的情况下，中国政府加大了对商界领袖的魅力攻势。中国商务部长王文涛上周会见了多位外国企业CEO，包括苹果公司(Apple)的库克(Tim Cook)、高通公司(Qualcomm)的安蒙(Cristiano Amon)和美光科技(Micron Technology)的梅赫罗特拉(Sanjay Mehrotra)。在此之前，中国国务院上周发布了吸引外资的新行动方案，并修订了相关规定，放宽中国部分贸易、跨境运输和跨国制造相关数据的跨境流动规定，这项期待已久的举措此前在许多外国公司的愿望清单上位居前列。 6park.com
As fresh investment has dried up, Beijing has stepped up its efforts to reengage business leaders. China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met last week with roughly a dozen global CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon and Micron’s Sanjay Mehrotra. It also follows the release of a new action plan last week by China’s cabinet, known as the State Council, to attract foreign investment, as well as revised rules that would ease the overseas transfer of some trade, cross-border transportation and transnational manufacturing data from China, a long-anticipated move that has been high on many foreign companies’ wish lists. 6park.com
   
出席本届论坛的外国企业高管表示，这些举措令人鼓舞，但他们仍希望中国采取进一步行动。 6park.com
Foreign executives attending the forum said these steps have been encouraging, but that they are still hoping for further action. 6park.com
  
总部位于慕尼黑的咨询公司罗兰贝格(Roland Berger)的全球董事总经理Denis Depoux称赞李强坦率评价了中国的经济问题，称这是讨论的一个重要起点。现在，他说， “我们可以根据实际情况展开对话了。” 6park.com
Denis Depoux, global managing director at Munich-based consulting company Roland Berger, praised Li for offering a candid assessment of China’s economic problems—an important starting point for discussions. Now, he said, “we can have a dialogue that is based on the actual situation.” 6park.com
  
中国美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce)主席Sean Stein说，尽管如此，高管们在修改投资计划之前仍希望看到“改革方面再多一点行动”。 6park.com
Still, executives are looking for “a little bit more action on the reform front” before they modify any investment plans, said Sean Stein, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. 6park.com
   
“他们发出的信号是对的，”Stein谈到中国官员时说。他还担任科文顿·柏灵律师事务所(Covington & Burling)公共政策业务部的高级顾问，该业务部为企业提供监管和法律风险咨询服务。“但这些信号现在还不足以从根本上改变投资态度。” 6park.com
“They are sending the right signals,” said Stein, who is also a senior adviser at Covington & Burling’s Public Policy Practice, which advises companies on regulatory and legal risks, referring to Chinese officials. “But those signals really aren’t enough to fundamentally change the attitude toward investment right now.” 6park.com
   
虽然李强没有谈及外国公司的国家安全关切，但保险公司Chubb首席执行官、中国发展高层论坛联席主席Evan Greenberg在紧随李强之后发表的演讲中直接谈到了这个问题。 6park.com
Though Li didn’t address foreign companies’ national-security concerns, Evan Greenberg, CEO of insurer Chubb and co-chairman of the China Development Forum, directly addressed the issue in his speech, which came immediately after Li’s. 6park.com
   
Greenberg支持中国领导人追求自身国家安全愿景的权利，但也强调了私营部门在帮助中国实现其目标方面的关键作用。 6park.com
Greenberg defended Chinese leaders’ prerogative to pursue their own vision of national security, but also emphasized the private sector’s critical role in helping China realize its goals. 6park.com
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“中国仍然需要来自世界其他国家的资金、技术和专有知识，”他说。 6park.com
“China still needs capital, technology and know-how from the rest of the world,” he said.