Some senior American executives are lukewarm about attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and related business events in Shenzhen next month, according to people familiar with the matter.
They cited limited scheduling details, few expected breakthroughs and a lack of opportunity for meaningful engagement.
Beijing has invited multiple US business leaders – particularly those who joined President Donald Trump’s May trip to China and later attended the White House state dinner for Xi Jinping in September, the sources said.
But some CEOs have decided not to attend the event because of a lack of concrete details about the schedule and planned meetings.
It comes just weeks after a group of Chinese executives were not able to attend the state dinner for Xi in Washington, despite being in the US capital at the time.
Some of America’s biggest tycoons – including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon – joined Trump’s business delegation in Beijing and were among the 130 high-profile guests at the White House during Xi’s visit.
One source said Beijing viewed those who attended both events as top-tier guests who represented the most advanced industries in the United States.
Executives from American companies with operations in China were also said to be on the invitation list for the Shenzhen gathering, as well as those from leading businesses in other Apec countries.
However, two separate sources said that a few US business leaders had dropped out due to a lack of communication from Beijing about the summit schedule and planned events.
According to them, some of the CEOs have moved on to other commitments and begun scheduling alternative engagements.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
One of the sources said China had extended the deadline for companies to register for the summit several times, suggesting that interest so far had been lukewarm and that Beijing was not addressing the reasons behind the muted response.
The source added that if China was committed to attracting CEOs to Apec, it would release the schedule and coordinate their itineraries and meetings.
The person also said that Apec offered limited opportunities for meaningful engagement for many CEOs, making attendance optional.
Another source said there appeared to be a disconnect between the two sides regarding the agenda and meetings.
The Apec CEO summit will be held from November 17 to 18 in Shenzhen and will be followed by the leaders’ summit from November 18 to 19, when 21 economies – including the US, Russia, Japan and South Korea – will meet to discuss regional economic cooperation and trade issues.
Trump and Xi will meet on the sidelines of the summit – their third meeting in seven months. Xi is also expected to travel to Miami in December for the Group of 20 summit, which the US is hosting this year.
Xi is expected to hold bilateral talks with other counterparts on the sidelines of Apec, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, and there is speculation that there could be a trilateral meeting between Xi, Putin and Trump.
One source said Beijing’s focus on inviting those who attended the White House dinner suggested an approach that ignored Washington’s resistance to Chinese investment and the limited scope for outcomes at a multilateral forum like Apec.
The issue of business leaders accompanying top officials on such trips has been in the spotlight after a group of Chinese business leaders were excluded from the White House guest list last month at the last minute, despite being in Washington at the time.
The South China Morning Post earlier reported that they were left out due to poor communication between Beijing and Washington, the two sides’ differing views on reciprocity and the White House’s unclear attitude towards Chinese investments in the United States. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
