(March 23): Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the country is prepared for “shocks that exceed expectations” as the world braces for US President Donald Trump to announce more tariffs on its trading partners next month.

Countries should open up markets in the face of growing economic fragmentation, Li told a gathering of global business leaders and visiting Republican Senator Steve Daines at the start of the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday.

“Instability and uncertainty are on the upswing,” Li said. “At this time, I think it is even more important for each of our countries to open up markets more, and for all of our businesses to share their resources more.”

Top executives including Apple Inc’s Tim Cook, Qualcomm Inc’s Cristiano Amon, Pfizer Inc’s Albert Bourla and Saudi Aramco’s Amin Nasser are attending the two-day conference. Bloomberg News earlier reported that plans were being made for corporate titans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 28, citing people familiar with the matter.

Daines, who represents the state of Montana and is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, met with Vice-Premier He Lifeng on Saturday, a rare public exchange between US and Chinese officials since Trump returned to the White House.

The senator also met Premier Li on Sunday afternoon at the Great Hall of the People, where he was accompanied by senior executives from seven US companies — FedEx Corp, Boeing Co, Cargill Inc, Medtronic Plc, Pfizer, Qualcomm and UL Solutions Inc. Chinese officials, including from the country’s Foreign Ministry and Commerce Ministry, were also present.

“History tells us that China and the United States both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” Li told the group. “It is our hope that the US side will work together with China to promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations.”

“We will need a meeting between President Trump and President Xi to tell each bureaucracy that they need to adopt constructive policies,” said Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations. “If there is no meeting, the inertia favors increased tariffs, increased export restrictions, increased investment restrictions — all of these issues which will make US-China relations more difficult.”

At the opening of the China Development Forum, the Chinese premier also reiterated a central bank pledge that policymakers will cut interest rates and the reserve requirement ratio when “timely,” and vowed to offer more support when necessary to ensure the economy runs smoothly.

Li’s speech comes as China renews efforts to attract foreign businesses after inbound investment tumbled last year to its lowest in over three decades.

“We are beginning to see some re-engagement with international investors coming into China,” Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered Plc, said on the sidelines of the forum. “The only thing slowing down a little bit is the consumer credit business in China, because we know the economy is a little sluggish, so that stream of activities has not been growing as fast.”

Easing growth and rising trade tensions have hurt the appeal of investing in the world’s second-biggest economy. In the coming days, the US is set to complete a review of Beijing’s compliance with the phase-one trade deal struck during Trump’s first term and impose sweeping reciprocal duties globally.

Chinese officials are trying to capitalise on momentum in the private sector spurred by artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, and paint Beijing as a force for global stability. China recently unveiled a consumption action plan in efforts to buffer the economy against external risks.

Authorities have set an ambitious economic growth goal of about 5% for 2025 and brought China’s fiscal deficit target to the highest in over three decades. However, if the trade war with the US intensifies, economists say China will need to roll out substantial stimulus to meet its growth target this year.

In a prelude to what could be widespread disruption to global trade, Chinese purchases of cotton, large-engined cars and some energy products from the US all plunged in the first two months of the year. All these goods were subject to Chinese retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s trade measures.

The China Development Forum started in 2000 with the backing of then-premier Zhu Rongji, serving as a platform for high-level dialogue between China and the world.

Most years, the keynote speech was delivered by a vice-premier, and the premier would hold a closed-door meeting with executives. In a break with precedent, Li addressed the forum last year while Xi met with a number of American business chiefs after the event, as Beijing sought to counter the downbeat narrative on its economy.

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