NYC CHina Institute
Executive Summit 2020
WHEN:
2020,
OCT.12-14.
WHO:
China Institute
WHERE:
China Institute, NYC (webinar)
How can U.S. and Chinese businesses navigate the new challenges to achieve success in the face of strained U.S.-China relations and a volatile world?
In three sessions over three days, the world’s leading business executives and thinkers will help chart the way to success in a decoupling world, demystify China’s new economic policies and opportunities, and shed light on how U.S. and Chinese companies can still work together to create more jobs.
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Live illustration :
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"Now, frankly, there is nearly no communication on the economic policy side. ...That negatively impacts China, the US, and the global economy. We need the US and China back on the right track for policy coordination.” -Guangyao ZHU, former Vice Minister of Finance, China
“Both China and the US must make up the bridge that connects our two countries. Nationalism is not the way forward.” -Guangyao ZHU
“There has been a lot of talk about decoupling in the past two years but not a lot has taken place. ...The trade war has not achieved the stated purpose of reducing the trade deficit in the US. And if the goal is to bring down China, it won’t be very successful.” -Weijian SHAN, CEO, PAG Group
“China is shifting its growth model from investment led growth to more consumption-led growth. For China private consumption as a percentage of GDP has grown from 35% to 39%. That is still only half of the US. We invest in businesses that cater to the consumer sector.” -Weijian SHAN
"Be in China to make money, but be in China to learn from the Chinese. Bring your money home, bring those learnings home and compete with China for your global market share." -Scott Kronick, Chief Executive, Public Relations & Influence, Asia, Ogilvy & Mather
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“It is important to engage, and the engagement we had had a positive outcome- it was putting Americans in good paying jobs. …A strong relationship with China was a significant contributor to the [6,000 jobs created in Michigan as a result of Chinese investment in Michigan]. From an economic front, you need to engage: these are the two biggest economies in the world. So let’s work together!” -Rick Snyder, former Governor of Michigan
“I think the best way to solve the competitive problems where we have issues is to show ‘coop-etition.’ You look at where the problems are and where the opportunities are. The more you understand someone the more likely you are to be able to solve the tougher issues.” -Rick Snyder
“We can clearly work together: [COVID] is an issue we have to work together on. Many of our [CGCC-Chicago] members looked to find masks for donation in Midwest states. We brought more than a million pieces in from China. We wanted to support the frontliners. When you are part of a community, that is your job. We were proud to show this opportunity to work together.” -Pin NI, President, Wanxiang Corporation America
“60 percent of Chinese companies still investing in the US still feel positive about the relationship. 94% of these companies confirmed that their investment plans in the US will not change. Many say they will increase investment in the United States. This is what I call gravity: it brings people together. As long as the market is still good for both sides…I would hope this will keep going.” -Pin NI
“Global Localization: You have to be global but you have to be localized in the market, which is the United States. The cost is not a big differentiating factor anymore.” -Pin NI
“Sinophobia is nothing new. Back in 1882, the Exclusion Act was introduced…this went on for 60 years. We want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Fast forward to now, I believe we have a confluence of factors: We have a President who is racist, we have China who is ascendant, we have an election…and now we have the Pandemic. It is a perfect storm. What are we going to do about this?” -Anla Cheng, Founder and CEO, SupChina
“The US used to wall off certain technologies. If you were an American and wanted to export them, you had to get an export license. This was a small part of the overall economy so the [US and China] economies were quite open. But now, this about 5G, it will cover social media, financial markets, manufacturing, retail, it will permeate the whole economy. And if you are in charge of national security, and a foreign country, can control that [communication network] you have to be concerned that this creates an enormous vulnerability. How do you wall off the Internet from trade and investment? Some say let’s decouple and have separate systems. All you have to do is create uncertainty, and then companies have to diversify risk and supply chains and marketing. So we have to build tall walls around small spaces. There is no real process between the US and China to have those conversations.” -Tim Stratford, Managing Partner, Covington & Burling LLP (Beijing)
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“China is not without resources, whether it is strategic or commercial…it is a dangerous game to play to force the world to choose between the US and China. China still has money and still has markets. You cannot keep the money away from the technology- in past years the money has come to the technology, to the United States. The money coming from China to technology has dropped by 80-85 percent. Which means that the investment is going to Chinese companies. The only group this is not going to be good for is the United States.” -Thomas Shoesmith, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons
“The old model of ‘engagement’ has really run its course…and if engagement has run its course, what would a post-engagement form of engagement look like?” -Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations, Asia Society
“Both the US and China are not managing our domestic affairs, our foreign affairs, or our bilateral relationship well. Having a relationship with China is more important now than ever before. We cannot have a major military engagement with China.” -Stapleton Roy, Former U.S. Ambassador to China
“In the past when we had a dispute with China, we worked together. We did it with H1N1, and even back to SARS in 2003, but now in the face of this terrible threat, the governments weren’t able to even manage any coordination of efforts. If this was a test of US-China relations, we failed very badly. It is global threats like public health and climate change and nuclear non-proliferation [that are real issues]." -Susan Shirk, Chair of the 21 Century China Center, UCSD
"The debates in China as to the best way to govern China and get along with the United States is a lot more contested than people realize. China is not a monolith. There is a lot of subrosa debate, that cannot be said openly, but a lot of people are not very happy at the elite levels about the way Xi Jinping is governing China. So the future is still a work in progress." -Susan Shirk
"We need to be outspoken and tough in our policies, we need to create a kind of off-ramp and reassure Chinese decision-makers that if they are willing to make compromises…then we are prepared to negotiate and stabilize…this very important relationship.” -Susan Shirk
