{"text":[[{"start":13,"text":"Xi Jinping has told American chief executives travelling with Donald Trump that China’s door to business “will only open wider and wider” as the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies meet in Beijing."}],[{"start":25.4,"text":"Xi’s comments on Thursday came after the US president individually introduced a group of 17 business leaders — including Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and head of Tesla and SpaceX, Jensen Huang, chief of chip designer Nvidia, and Apple CEO Tim Cook — to his Chinese counterpart. "}],[{"start":44.4,"text":"“China welcomes stronger mutually beneficial co-operation with the United States, and believes that US companies will have even broader prospects in China,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua. "}],[{"start":57.349999999999994,"text":"According to the report, the American business leaders “expressed that they attach great importance” to China’s market and hope to deepen their operations in the country."}],[{"start":67.25,"text":"Nvidia’s Huang, speaking from the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, said the two leaders’ “meetings went well” and that Xi and Trump were “incredible”. "}],[{"start":77.95,"text":"Musk told reporters that “many good things” were happening while Apple’s Cook gave a peace sign and a thumbs-up. "}],[{"start":85.2,"text":"As he travelled to China this week, the US president promised that his first order of business would be to ask the Chinese leader to open the country to American business to help “bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level”."}],[{"start":99.75,"text":"On Thursday Trump told Xi: “We have the greatest businessmen in the world . . . and they’re here today to pay respect to you, to China.”"}],[{"start":108.1,"text":"According to a readout of the Xi-Trump meeting released by Xinhua, the Chinese leader also called for the two sides to expand co-operation across the economy and trade, health, agriculture, tourism and law enforcement."}],[{"start":122.39999999999999,"text":"In the afternoon, China’s second-ranked leader, Premier Li Qiang, flanked by senior officials including central bank governor Pan Gongsheng and commerce minister Wang Wentao, also met the US executives. "}],[{"start":134.89999999999998,"text":"Li told them the ability of the US and China to maintain dialogue was of “great strategic significance” to global stability. "}],[{"start":143.14999999999998,"text":"Han Shen Lin of consultancy Asia Group said the impression of positive US-China engagement was itself important for markets and multinationals. "}],[{"start":152.95,"text":"A survey of businesses by the American Chamber of Commerce in China released this year found tensions between Washington and Beijing were no longer their top concern for the first time in half a decade, Lin said."}],[{"start":165.29999999999998,"text":"“That suggests sustained dialogue itself — such as this summit — does foster stabilisation, so critical to multiyear corporate planning,” he said. “Things not getting worse may be the best that corporate leaders can expect but that’s still worth something in an increasingly volatile world.” "}],[{"start":183.24999999999997,"text":"The world’s two biggest economies are at a tense juncture. "}],[{"start":186.79999999999998,"text":"China has taken issue with Trump’s tariffs, the American war in Iran and Washington’s snowballing controls cutting Chinese access to America’s technology."}],[{"start":195.99999999999997,"text":"The US has opposed China’s actions on issues including military assertiveness around Taiwan and the South China Sea, Beijing’s state support for industry and the treatment of American companies trying to compete in the country."}],[{"start":208.94999999999996,"text":"One senior American business leader based in China, who asked not to be named, said Xi wanted American businesses to be a “stabilising force” in the strained US-China relationship and saw the visiting executives as a key intermediary with Washington."}],[{"start":224.64999999999995,"text":"The Chinese leader also appeared to be seeking to calm international investor worries about China’s slowing economy and Beijing’s sweeping new supply chain regulations. The rules, announced in April, allow authorities to penalise foreign companies for conducting due diligence on their Chinese suppliers and to impose exit bans on violators."}],[{"start":244.24999999999994,"text":"Xi’s promise of more opening, the executive said, could mean some regulatory easing and predictability, albeit that market access would be “on China’s terms”. "}],[{"start":253.24999999999994,"text":"Later on Thursday, the US business delegation is expected to gather at the Capital Club, a local private members’ institution on the 50th floor of Beijing’s CITIC Group tower. Signs at the club on Thursday said it was closed for maintenance."}],[{"start":268.34999999999997,"text":"Nvidia is among the US companies caught in the crossfire of rising geopolitical tensions. It has faced heightened scrutiny in both Washington and Beijing that has restricted China’s access to cutting-edge semiconductor designs. Huang is expected to use his time in Beijing to revive talks over Chinese orders for the company’s advanced H200 chips. "}],[{"start":289.45,"text":"Additional reporting by Tina Hu in Beijing"}],[{"start":302.75,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778771025_2867.mp3"}