Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has met with several US financial executives over the past month as Beijing tries to build relations ahead of newly elected President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on China.
He Lifeng is one of China’s four vice premiers and heads the economic and finance committee of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
He met BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink in Beijing on December 5And Goldman Sachs Chairman and COO John E. Waldron on December 4state media said. This was followed by a meeting with Citi Group CEO Jane Fraser on November 21state media said.
“The Chinese are looking for every possible way to gain access to those who are now coming to power in Washington. The Trump team,” said Peter Alexander, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Z-Ben Advisors. “Back channeling is the way China operates, and even prefers, in building lines of communication.”
Goldman Sachs said it was aware of the reports. The two other financial companies did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.
Trump has filled his cabinet picks with at least ten reported billionairesincluding two with a financial background: hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary.
“I really think the Wall Street people who are in the trade and treasury will play a moderating role on the trade protectionist side,” said Clark Packard, research fellow at the Cato Institute. “It’s all relative, because I think there will be some protectionism on the trade side. Those voices will be the voices that work to mitigate some of that.”
“Especially at Treasury, they are quite concerned about the market reaction,” Packard said. “The only thing that can really deter Trump from being really aggressive [policy] would be the market reaction.”
US stocks are on track for a relatively rare second straight year of gains of more than 20%. After plunging early this year, Chinese stocks recovered after Beijing signaled a shift toward stimulus in late September. Chinese authorities confirmed this supportive position at a high-level meeting on Monday.
‘Keep your options open’
With actions such as hosting Wall Street executives and imposing export controls on crucial minerals, Beijing is keeping its options open, said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, Maurice R. Greenberg senior fellow for China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They are preparing for the worst-case scenario.”
But she warned that it is unlikely that financial institutions can do much to ease tariffs and tensions with the US. “There’s no way Wall Street trades and executives would give up opportunities in any market as long as it fits their profile. ,” said Liu.
Chinese financial media summarized He Lifeng’s meetings with US executives as a signal about Beijing’s willingness to open up the financial sector and attract new investors. long-term foreign institutional investment. The inflow of foreign capital is often the case released by Chinese state media as a symbol of support for the domestic market.
The Chinese Vice Premier also met with the President and CEO of Invesco Andrew Schlossberg in Beijing on November 12and chairman of the HSBC group Mark Tucker on November 14state media said. HSBC said it had nothing to add to the report. Invesco did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S.-China capital markets have been “arguably the most dynamic and interconnected aspect” of the bilateral relationship over the past two decades, said Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law.
‘If the cross-border financial relationship is constructive and cooperative, this can lead to… MAP, i.e. mutually assured [prosperity]; otherwise it will be so MAD, mutually assured destructionMa said, referring to the Cold War principle of deterrence.