China to ask Wall Street for ideas on
improving U.S. ties
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[September 14, 2018]
By Sumeet Chatterjee and Jennifer Hughes
HONG KONG (Reuters) - China will ask Wall
Street firms for ways to improve ties with the United States and
suggestions to open up its financial sector at a day-long meeting in
Beijing on Sunday, people familiar with the matter said.
The Chinese government sent invitations for the hastily-convened meeting
a few weeks ago as trade tensions between the world's two largest
economies appeared to be headed for a full-blown trade war.
Top financial firms in both countries are sending representatives to the
meeting, although heavyweight invitees such as Blackstone's Stephen
Schwarzman were unable to rearrange their schedules to attend the
meeting, a source said.
The meeting will be chaired by Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the
People's Bank of China, and John Thornton, ex-president of Goldman
Sachs.
Attendees will also meet with Chinese vice-president Wang Qishan on
Monday morning after the full-day Sunday session, according to an
invitation reviewed by Reuters.
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Zhou and Thornton have asked participants to give one or two specific
ideas on how to further open up China's financial sector as well as
suggest ways to "forge normal U.S.-China relations for the benefit of
our two countries and the world," according to the people and a meeting
agenda seen by Reuters.
The people, who have knowledge of the meeting, declined to be named as
the roundtable details were not public.
The meeting ideas should be accompanied by specific action points, said
one source who was briefed on the agenda.
"They don't want something feel-good. It's got to be specific actionable
areas where reform and opening markets is needed," said one of the
sources.
Chinese government officials will aim to reassure the U.S. financial
firms that Beijing is genuinely receptive to their ideas, the source
added.
The meeting comes as the United States is readying a final list of $200
billion in Chinese imports on which it plans to levy tariffs of between
10 and 25 percent in the coming days.
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![](../images/091418pics/news_m25.jpg)
People walk by a Wall Street sign close to the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon
Stapleton
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Earlier this week, officials in Beijing welcomed an invitation from
Washington for a new round of talks.
U.S. participants at the roundtable include Citigroup's Asia head of
corporate investment banking Jan Metzger, Goldman Sachs' newly-named
president John Waldron, JPMorgan Asia CEO Nicolas Aguzin, and Morgan
Stanley head of international business Franck Petitgas, the people
familiar with the meeting said.
Executives from Blackstone, Charles Schwab, and U.S. index provider
MSCI are also set to attend, the people said.
Chinese firms, including Bank of China, China International Capital
Corp, investment firms Hillhouse Capital and Primavera, and the
Shanghai Stock Exchange, will also send representatives.
Hong Kong's de-facto central bank, securities regulator, and stock
exchange are also expected to be represented at the roundtable, the
people familiar with the meeting said.
CICC, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Hong Kong's stock exchange and securities
regulator, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Representatives of other companies did not immediately respond to
Reuters' emailed request for comment.
(Reporting by Jennifer Hughes, John Ruwitch and Sumeet Chatterjee;
additional reporting by Alun John and Julie Zhu; Editing by Darren
Schuettler)
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