Spy balloons over the American Midwest, warnings from Beijing of a clash if Washington \u201cdoesn\u2019t hit the brakes\u201d and intense congressional scrutiny of investment in China \u2014 there could hardly be a less auspicious time for US business to attend Beijing\u2019s flagship investment conference.<\/p>\n
But this weekend, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, investor Ray Dalio and American business chiefs including Jon Moeller of Procter & Gamble will head to Beijing for what has been billed as an opening-up party after three years of a strict zero-Covid policy.<\/p>\n
Many of the business figures attending the China Development Forum will be seeing their mainland operations and meeting Beijing officials for the first time in three years. But while the Davos-like event is focused on \u201copportunities and co-operation\u201d as the Chinese economy<\/a> rebounds from the pandemic, the headwinds facing US business interests in China are also coming from Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re making so much money off their investments, their factories and their engagement there now that they lobby here for free on China\u2019s behalf,\u201d Florida senator Marco Rubio said this month of US businesses and individuals operating in China.<\/p>\n The full list of attendees is not available. Senior government regulators and policymakers are expected to be there, including possibly Li Qiang<\/a>, Xi Jinping\u2019s number two and the head of China\u2019s cabinet. Panel participants and speakers include BHP chief executive Mike Henry, state-owned Bank of China president Liu Jin, PwC global chair Bob Moritz, Chinese oil company Sinopec president Zhao Dong and HSBC chief Noel Quinn, as well as several leading academics. Those from the US are expected to attract scrutiny at home.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the Americans are going to sit it out, but they\u2019re probably going to do whatever they can to stay in the background and out of the limelight,\u201d said Francis Bassolino, managing partner at Alaris Consultancy in Shanghai.<\/p>\n Last month, Geoffrey Siebengartner, an American Chamber of Commerce official and head of government affairs and corporate responsibility in Asia Pacific for JPMorgan, was the focus of a select committee in Washington after appearing in a video promoting Hong Kong. Beijing imposed a national security law there in 2020 that prompted sharp criticism from the US.<\/p>\n