Xi, Modi to vie for investments on rare simultaneous US visits

Beijing: On his maiden State Visit to the US aimed at allaying concerns over faltering Chinese economy, President Xi Jinping on Tuesday left for America, coinciding with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip during which the two Asian leaders will vie for investments and influence in their contrasting styles.

While the US and Chinese officials will examine thorny issues ranging from cybersecurity to the South China Sea, Xi's main mission will be to reassure investors that the world's second largest economy is stable and open for business.

Ahead of Xi's visit, Premier Li Keqiang yesterday said China aims to develop open and transparent capital markets and there was no basis for continued currency depreciation.

"We will actively nurture capital markets that are open, transparent and stable in the long term," Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Li as telling visiting British Finance Minister George Osborne, allaying fears over the recent devaluation of the Chinese economy.

The four per cent depreciation of Chinese currency Yuan last month shook the world markets, prompting the US to put off plans to rise interest rates.

Xi kicks off his visit in Seattle where he would address a meeting of 30 CEOs of top US and Chinese business houses.

Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Pepsi's Indra Nooyi, top US business tycoon Warren Buffet, Apple CEO Tim Cook were among the leaders of business houses tipped to attend the meeting.

Modi too is scheduled to meet over 50 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies over dinner hosted in New York on September 24. He is scheduled to have similar get together with CEOs of digital companies in the Silicon Valley during his visit to the US West Coast on September 26-27.

Xi will be in the US for week-long maiden visit during which he would visit Seattle and Washington followed by New York where he would address a series of meetings at the UN, marking the 70th anniversary of the world body's founding day.

Modi too would address the UN Sustainable Development Summit, attend the summit on UN peacekeeping hosted by President Barack Obama and host a summit of G-4 leaders, India, Brazil, Japan and Germany to press for the expansion of the Permanent Membership of the UN Security Council.

China is the only country among the Permanent members of the UNSC which has not yet come out in support of India's permanent membership in the expanded UN Security Council.

An article in the state-run Global Times has said that India made a "biggest mistake" by aligning with Japan, Germany and Brazil as they have opponents in the region.

Also China yesterday issued a position paper on the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations in which it made no direct reference to UNSC expansion.

Though Modi and Xi will be attending the US Sustainable Development and 70th anniversary summits, there was no proposal for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN.

The slowdown of the Chinese economy is to be the focus of Xi's visit to the US as ahead of his trip today the Asian Development Bank cut China's GDP further to 6.8 percent this year from last year's 7.3 percent and 6.7 percent in 2016.

The bank previously forecast 7.2 per cent and 7 per cent for 2015-16. ADB forecast India to grow 7.4 percent in 2015 and 7.8 percent in 2016.

About China there are also deepening concerns over the environment for foreign companies following Beijing's moves to submit foreign investment to tighter scrutiny on national security grounds.

An article in the state-run People's Daily said Xi's aim would be to reassure foreign investors, pledging more openness and security for their investments.

Tsinghua University international relations professor Sun Zhe said it was important for Xi to restore confidence in China's economy.

"Xi's trip is heavily focused on commerce and trade. It's the area with the most common ground and where an agreement is most likely to be reached," Sun told the Post.

"There's less likelihood of a breakthrough on the South China Sea because other parties are involved," he said.

Also the thorny issue of cyber security continued to be highlighted as Apple suffered first breech of its well protected store from a compromised version of Xcode which allegedly came from a server in China.

Emphasising the importance of cyber security issues between US and China, President Obama said has that cyber attacks from China were "not acceptable", a message which he is likely to deliver to Xi during their meeting.

Xi will meet Obama on Friday in Washington during which the two leaders are expected to discuss issues relating to South China Sea, human rights and North Korea's nuclear programme.

A number of key agreements are likely to be signed between China and the US. The US and China are negotiating what could become the first arms control accord for cyberspace, the New York Times reported.

Also hopes are high for another breakthrough in the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) negotiation, state-run Global Times reported today.

"The two sides will work to reach a high-level treaty that will benefit both countries as soon as possible to bring benefits to their businesses and people. It will also be an exploration in the improvement of global investment rules," Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng wrote in the People's Daily yesterday.