Xi takes flurry of small steps to open China after Biden thaw

President Joe Biden greets China's President President Xi Jinping at the Filoli Estate in Woodside, California, on Nov 15, 2023, on the sidelines of the Apec conference. - AP

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping’s government has vowed all year to restore foreign investors’ shattered confidence in China. Since a meeting with US leader Joe Biden steadied ties, Beijing is gradually putting his words into action.

China has unleashed a flurry of market access concessions in the wake of last month’s leaders’ summit. Beijing approved a long-delayed Mastercard Inc. joint venture, then followed up by green lighting one of the world’s largest technology mergers between US chipmaker Broadcom Inc. and cloud company VMWare Inc. Last week, officials announced visa-free access to China for six countries.