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President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China next month could lead to more Chinese investments in the US, the founder and president of a Beijing-based think tank said on Wednesday.
“In the long run, I do see a benefit of massive Chinese investment to the US. That’s what the Japanese did in the ’90s and the ‘80s,” Henry Huiyao Wang of the Center for China and Globalization said at Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC.
Talks between US and Chinese officials ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping have touched on the creation of a board of trade, as well as a board of investment. However, the US’ top trade official downplayed the creation of the latter, saying last week, “I don’t think we’re at the point in our relationship with the Chinese where we want to talk about the investment programs either way, right?”
Wang, an adviser to several Chinese government bodies, said Wednesday that a board of investment is a “brilliant idea” but acknowledged “we need still a little bit of consensus building on that.”
He said Trump is “practical” in his approach to China, and that his presence in Beijing would send positive signals to the rest of the world.
“Stability is probably the most important buzzword I think, for both China and US,” Wang said. “By just merely shaking hands, we send a thousand images around the world.”
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Discussing the impact of the closure of Strait of Hormuz on China — which is Iran’s largest customer for oil — Wang said Beijing needs the vital waterway to open in the long run. However, he said that China’s push toward renewables would minimize damage to the country’s economy.
“It’s not really the end of the world for China,” said Wang.
Semafor has previously partnered with the Center for China and Globalization.