When Shenzhen hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in November, Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) is expected to use the stage to engage US President Donald Trump and other leaders and showcase China's influence in regional cooperation. Some of the American business leaders Beijing most wanted to see there, however, may not show up.
The South China Morning Post reported on October 13, citing people familiar with the matter, that several US chief executives have decided not to attend APEC events in Shenzhen next month. According to the report, the reason is not a political boycott. Organizers have been slow to provide a clear schedule, confirmed meetings or concrete content, and executives have doubts about whether the summit will produce anything tangible. Some have already made other plans.
The APEC CEO Summit is scheduled for November 17 and 18 in Shenzhen, followed by the leaders' meeting on November 18 and 19, where 21 member economies will discuss regional economic cooperation and trade. Shenzhen, a symbol of China's reform and opening up, was meant to be the ideal setting for Beijing to show that its door to the world remains open and to coax multinational companies back into the Chinese market.
White House Guests In No Hurry To Visit China
China has invited a number of US business leaders, particularly those who accompanied Trump on his visit to China in May and those who attended the state dinner the White House held for Xi in September. They come from major American companies, some representing artificial intelligence, semiconductors, finance and other strategically important industries.
For Beijing, these executives carry symbolic weight beyond their companies. Their presence would signal American corporate interest in the Chinese market and lend a degree of confidence to US China economic ties.
What CEOs Actually Want From A Summit
Chief executives rarely attend international summits just for photos, speeches or goodwill. For multinational companies, the real value of such events lies in direct access to decision makers, insight into policy direction, and the chance to tackle market access barriers or push for concrete progress on tariffs, investment restrictions and regulatory uncertainty.
If the schedule is still unsettled and opportunities to meet Chinese officials or US representatives remain unclear, companies may conclude that spending several days and significant resources on the trip offers limited return, however symbolic the summit may be.
That points to a reality often obscured by the pageantry of diplomacy. Political leaders care about the symbolism of relationships and room to negotiate. Business leaders must answer a more direct question: what will this trip actually do for the company?
The Trump administration has recently shown signs of softening its stance toward China, and the White House state dinner and the executives who joined Trump's delegation were seen as signals that both sides want stability. Companies, though, are more pragmatic. They want a predictable agenda, workable meetings and conversations that can translate directly into business gains, not symbolic photos and slogans. When those are missing, even executives Beijing has personally invited would rather spend their time elsewhere.
Extended Registration Deadlines Raise Questions
China has repeatedly extended the registration deadline for companies, prompting questions about how willing the US business community is to take part.
Extended deadlines alone do not prove that overall turnout will be poor, nor that American companies are collectively distancing themselves from China. But combined with reports that some CEOs are staying away because they lack a concrete itinerary, the detail becomes more telling.
APEC has always been a platform for multilateral economic cooperation, and the business community has its own CEO summit. The challenge is that a multilateral agenda must balance the interests of many economies. It cannot tailor bilateral meetings to every company, let alone guarantee quick solutions to commercial disputes. If Beijing wants to draw senior US executives to Shenzhen, the question is not only who has been invited, but what can be arranged for them.
What executives care about most is likely whether US China tariff policy will ease, whether restrictions on investing in China can be adjusted, whether export controls and technology competition will escalate further, and whether China's regulatory environment can become more predictable.
Even if business leaders do travel to Shenzhen, that would not mean they see US China economic relations as back to normal. Attending may be a way to maintain relationships and avoid missing policy signals, while staying away may simply reflect a judgment about time and commercial value. Neither should be reduced to support for or opposition to China.
Frequent Trump Xi Meetings Do Not Mean A Business Thaw
Trump and Xi are expected to meet during the APEC summit. If that happens as planned, it will be their third meeting in seven months. Xi is also expected to travel to Miami in December for the G20 summit hosted by the United States.
Diplomatically, the steady stream of meetings shows that both sides still need to keep channels of communication open. With trade friction, technology rivalry and regional security issues intertwined, dialogue has practical value even if differences cannot be resolved quickly.
For American companies, China may remain an important market, supply chain hub and operating base. At the same time, strategic competition between Washington and Beijing can bring added costs and risks. Companies must weigh market opportunities, policy changes, investment restrictions and supply chain configuration together, rather than basing their next move on the mood of a leaders' meeting.
What Foreign Companies Weigh Before Committing To China
The relationship between US businesses and China cannot be reduced to a simple choice between being pro China or anti China. A company may want to protect its revenue from the Chinese market and keep investing in production and research there. Those business decisions do not mean it is willing to serve as an endorser at every political occasion. What companies really want from political relationships is a predictable operating environment, not a seat at a symbolic international gathering.
Beijing hopes to use APEC to project openness, attract foreign investment and highlight its role in Asia-Pacific economic cooperation. Amid continuing US China competition, however, foreign companies have long looked beyond the size of the Chinese market. They are also weighing policy stability, investment risk and whether they can keep operating there in the years ahead.