Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser visited Beijing this week, joining other Wall Street executives to travel to China despite growing geopolitical tensions with the US.
Fraser expressed confidence in China’s financial and economic development, and vowed to keep expanding onshore operations during her Monday meeting with the nation’s top financial regulator, according to an official statement. She also met with the deputy governor of China’s central bank to discuss the situation in the international financial market on Tuesday.
Her visit followed similar trips by American business titans including JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon as well as Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk over the past several weeks. China also rolled out the red carpet earlier this year to top executives from global banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc, and welcomed them to continue expanding in the country.
A sluggish Chinese economy, restrictions in the US and a crackdown by Beijing on foreign businesses are forcing global banks to have a fundamental rethink about their ambitions in the country, with revised profit goals and job cuts. Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, pledged to further open up the financial sector to the outside world during the meeting with Fraser.
