China invites investors for rare meeting

Seeks to encourage foreign investment amid geopolitical tensions

HONG KONG:

China’s financial regulators have invited some of the world’s biggest investors to a rare symposium next week, three sources said, seeking to encourage foreigners to keep investing in the world’s second-largest economy despite its recent weakness and rising geopolitical tensions.

The meeting in Beijing next Friday will focus on the current conditions of US dollar-denominated investment firms in China and the main challenges facing them, according to the sources who have direct knowledge of the matter and invitation documents reviewed by Reuters.

The gathering comes at a time when global investors and banks are warning that confidence is waning in China’s economic outlook. The country’s post-pandemic recovery is quickly losing steam and Sino-US relations are at a low over national security issues, including Taiwan, US export bans on advanced technologies and China’s state-led industrial policies.

Such a meeting, with a clear agenda to discuss challenges facing global fund managers investing in China, is rare, the three sources said, and reflected Beijing’s keenness to shore up confidence among foreign investors.

Large foreign and domestic fund managers such as private equity firms, known as general partners, and their investors or limited partners including sovereign wealth funds and pension funds are expected to join the meeting, said the sources.

They also will be encouraged to provide suggestions to help address challenges facing their businesses in China and share their outlook on the economy, according to the sources and documents.

Weighed down by strict COVID measures, China’s economy grew just 3% in 2022, one of its worst showings in decades. Activity rebounded early this year after the curbs were abruptly lifted, but momentum has faded sharply since, while policy uncertainty and tensions between China, the US and other Western powers have heightened.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2023.

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