China's Wang Yi Courts EU Investment Ahead of Leaders' Summit
China's top diplomat met Investor AB's Jacob Wallenberg in Stockholm, pitching deeper business ties before a key China-EU summit.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Investor AB Chairman Jacob Wallenberg in Stockholm on Saturday, urging Swedish and European businesses to deepen commercial engagement with China as Beijing attempts to shore up foreign investor confidence amid slowing domestic growth and persistent geopolitical friction with the West.
Wang told Wallenberg that the prominent Swedish business family was among the first European investors to enter China following its landmark reform and opening-up policies, crediting the Wallenbergs with helping build bilateral economic ties over several decades. He called on the family and Sweden's broader business community to continue supporting efforts to stabilize and improve relations between the two countries, with Beijing and Stockholm aiming to rebuild mutual trust and expand practical cooperation.
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The Stockholm talks arrived at a strategically charged moment — just days before an anticipated China-EU leaders' summit where trade, investment access, and technology exports are expected to dominate the agenda. Wang repeated core elements of China's pitch to multinationals: a pledge to stimulate domestic demand, advance high-level economic opening, and uphold free-trade and market-based principles.
The choice of the Wallenberg family as an interlocutor carries deliberate symbolic weight. Investor AB controls major stakes in some of Europe's largest industrial and technology companies, making the outreach a visible signal that Beijing wants marquee Western investors to stay engaged despite years of regulatory unpredictability and trade tensions over electric vehicles and tech exports.
Market watchers and European business groups are likely to focus less on the diplomatic optics and more on whether the upcoming summit produces tangible commitments on market access and regulatory transparency — two areas where European firms have lodged persistent complaints. Continue reading at Forexlive.
