Xi Jinping says China open to foreign business amid economic reforms

Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought to reassure US business leaders, in a wide-ranging speech covering China's economic reforms and cyber crime.

Speaking in Seattle at the start of his state visit to the US, Mr Xi said foreign firms were welcome in China, and that Beijing would not manipulate its currency to boost exports.

He also denied Beijing engages in hacking but said China would co-operate with Washington on the issue.

Both issues have led to strained ties.

Hacking and economic reforms are expected to come up when Mr Xi meets his US counterpart Barack Obama at the White House on Friday.

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James Cook, West Coast Correspondent, BBC News

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionMr Xi is accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan on this trip

Xi Jinping's speech at a banquet in Seattle was wide-ranging, friendly and colourful, sprinkled with Chinese proverbs and references to American culture. From Sleepless in Seattle to Walt Whitman, Mr Xi lavished praise on the culture of his hosts.

He was particularly taken, he said, with Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea which follows a fisherman's epic struggle to land a huge marlin.

The president talked about China's struggles too, giving a personal account of his tough teenage years working with peasants in a poor village, with no meat to eat for months on end.

Now the village had an internet connection, as well as plentiful meat, he said. It was a subtle rebuke to rich Westerners who criticise China's rise, reminding them where his country is rising from.

Pointedly for an American audience, he referred to the Chinese Dream which was linked, he said, to his people's yearning for a better life.

When pop met political: Sleepless in Seattle and other things about Xi's speech

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Ahead of Mr Xi's visit, business leaders had re-iterated the difficulties US firms have operating in China and the deteriorating outlook for the economy.

China's economy, which has grown rapidly in recent years, is beginning to slow, causing global concern about a fall in demand for global goods.

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionMr Xi's visit was also marked by protests by practitioners of Falun Gong, a religious movement banned in China, who were met with pro-Beijing counter-protests

Recent dramatic losses on the Chinese stock markets, despite government interventions, have led to questions over how well the government is managing the slowdown.

But Mr Xi told a dinner meeting of business leaders on Tuesday night that ensuring robust international trade was a top priority for China.

"China will never close its open door to the outside world," Mr Xi said in Chinese.

He called for "more understanding and trust" between the US and China, and "less estrangement and suspicion".

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionsay Mr Xi and Mr Obama are likely to discuss hacking and economic reforms later in the