Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner, Tesla chief Elon Musk and Blackrock’s Steve Schwarzman have been among the many company Wednesday evening at a gala reception and dinner in San Francisco for visiting Chinese language President Xi Jinping.

Hosted by the U.S.-China Enterprise Council and the Nationwide Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the dinner adopted Xi’s daylong summit with President Joe Biden, which Biden known as “a few of the most constructive and productive discussions we have had.”

The dinner with Xi was a sizzling ticket for CEOs of America’s most distinguished firms, an opportunity to rub elbows with high-ranking authorities ministers of a rustic that did almost $760 billion price of commerce with the USA final 12 months.

On the visitor record: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Boeing CEO Stan Deal, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, Visa chief Ryan McInerney, Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla, Mastercard chair Advantage Janow, and BlackRock‘s Larry Fink.

The Biden administration was represented by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, and Kurt Campbell, a high White Home China advisor. San Francisco Mayor London Breed additionally had a spot on the head desk.

In line with the place playing cards, Cook dinner was seated subsequent to Chinese language Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao. Occasion organizers stated Musk attended the VIP reception, however didn’t keep for the dinner.

In remarks earlier than the meal, Raimondo emphasised how a lot alternative stays within the U.S.-China financial relationship.

“All of you right here this night stay keenly to do enterprise in China, and to search out methods to advance our bilateral financial relationship,” Raimondo stated. “I do know that, as a result of half of you’ve gotten come to see me to inform me that.”

Xi delivered the keynote deal with, his most expansive remarks to this point in his U.S. go to. He used the speech to current a view of the U.S.-China relationship that differs considerably from Biden’s.

“The primary query for us is, are we adversaries or companions?” Xi requested.

“If one sees the opposite facet as a major competitor, probably the most consequential geopolitical problem, and a pacing risk, it is going to solely result in misinformed policymaking, misguided actions and undesirable outcomes,” stated Xi.

It was not misplaced on the room that Biden has described China in every of these phrases up to now.

As a substitute of adversaries, Xi emphasised that China desires a partnership with the USA, a “win-win” relationship.

As a part of his total outreach message, Xi introduced that China will likely be sending pandas to the San Diego Zoo, after three of the bears have been not too long ago returned to China from Washington’s Smithsonian Nationwide Zoo.

“Pandas have lengthy been envoys of friendship between the Chinese language and American folks,” he stated.

“We’re able to proceed our cooperation with the USA on panda conservation and do our greatest to satisfy the needs of the Californians, in order to deepen pleasant ties between our two peoples.”