US CEOs kept waiting on Xi meeting

Xi Jinping is going to meet with US businesses next week – probably.

According to the Journal:

• “The meeting with China’s top leader is set for Wednesday, and insurer Chubb’s CEO, Evan Greenberg, along with Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, are expected to attend, people familiar with the matter said.”

But Xi doesn’t want anybody to get too comfortable:

• “The people said that Beijing could cancel the Xi meeting at the last minute.”

This is part of a pattern: The uncertainty surrounding the possible meeting with Xi comes on top of weeks of speculation – and uncertainty – around whether or not Premier Li Qiang will meet with global CEOs at the China Development Forum, which is taking place on Sunday and Monday.

Get smart: The increasing opacity of Zhongnanhai – and the Party-state more generally – makes foreign businesses uncomfortable and undermines business confidence.

• A meeting with Xi will allay some of the unease among the foreign business community, but won’t serve to completely erase it.