China's Xi Jinping to meet with American executives on Wednesday, sources say

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 11, 2024. /Tingshu Wang/File Photo

BEIJING - China's President Xi Jinping will meet with American business leaders in Beijing on Wednesday, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter, in a follow up to his November dinner with U.S. investors in San Francisco.

The meeting was proposed by chief executive of U.S. insurer Chubb, Evan Greenberg, said one of the sources who has direct knowledge of the matter. Other attendees include Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Craig Allen, president of the U.S. China Business Council.

The meeting was first reported by the Wall Street Journal last week.

The meeting is not part of the China Development Forum agenda, which took place in Beijing March 24-25, two sources said, and was deliberately scheduled for Wednesday to separate it from the high-profile forum for senior foreign executives and China's leaders.

China's State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Officials who spoke at the opening of the forum this weekend expressed confidence China would hit its economic targets, including growth of about 5% this year, and pledged further support for companies in strategically important sectors, an area Xi has dubbed "new productive forces."

In November, Xi told American business leaders in San Francisco that China is ready to be a partner and friend of the U.S., and there is plenty of room for cooperation, in a bid to overcome China's struggles to entice foreign investment.

(Reporting by Joe Cash and Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)