Two days before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to arrive in the United States, one side is unusually open about its executive invite list — and the other side is remaining entirely silent.
The U.S. has confirmed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will attend a dinner expected Thursday in Washington, D.C. Senior U.S. officials have shared names of other executives joining, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook and Dell’s Michael Dell.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment Tuesday morning. Late on Monday, the ministry confirmed Xi’s U.S. trip, planned for Wednesday to Friday.
The U.S. Invite List
The American contingent appears as a roster of the globe’s most influential figures. Only one executive has been confirmed by name, and he is coming into a gathering that already includes the leaders of some of the world’s largest companies.
The White House has not responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
The Chinese Side Stays Quiet
Last week Reuters reported that Chinese business representatives were being considered, among them the electric car giant BYD, the smartphone company Xiaomi, the battery makers CATL and Gotion, the consumer electronics manufacturer Hisense, the automotive parts company Wanxiang, the state-owned Bank of China, and the agricultural conglomerate COFCO Group.
When CNBC reached out to BYD, the company had no comment. The other Chinese firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The ministry itself has not responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
The Diplomatic Context
In the last few years, the U.S. and China have raised their political tensions, and each side has responded by placing companies from the other nation on blacklists that limit business activity.
The fact that history lies behind the secrecy on one side and the openness on the other makes the contrast more than a matter of timing. It is a deliberate choice.
What This Means for Business
The meal brings together the globe’s’s biggest tech and finance companies to meet the leaders of the world’ two biggest economies. That the U.S. list is public while the Chinese list remains secret tells its own tale, revealing which side is open about who sits at the table.
It also speaks to who feels comfortable naming individuals. The U.S. government has been notably open about its executive invite list, while China’s ministry has refused to confirm a single name.
The One Confirmed Attendee
The presence of only one named executive has been confirmed, and his attendance at the dinner is not in question.
The other U.S. executives are on a list shared by officials.
What Is Left to Know
Two days out, the Chinese government still isn’t saying who’s coming. The ministry only confirmed Xi’s trip, not the people he will bring with him.
More information has come from the U.S. side than from the Chinese side, but it has not confirmed all of the names on its list either. The White House and Microsoft have not responded to CNBC’s requests for comment.
“With two days to go before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to land in the U.S., very little is known about which Chinese executives will join him.”
The U.S. has knowledge of who is coming, while China refuses to say. That line comes from the report itself, and it captures the current state of play.
The Verdict on the Diplomatic Game
The two sides could not be more different. The U.S. has put forward specific names, while China’s ministry has declined to confirm any of them.
One side is going to great lengths to shape the story, while the other side is simply waiting and watching.
The dinner is a chance for the world’s biggest tech and finance companies to meet the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. It is also a chance for both governments to show who has the leverage and who is willing to play it.
The Chinese companies might still confirm their participation, while U.S. executives could still drop out, but for now the list stands as it is.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not confirmed a single name.
Source material: “Here's who we know is going to the Trump-Xi dinner so far,” CNBC.
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