Nation 'enormously important' to US biz

As all eyes are on the high-level engagement between China and the United States, the US business community has voiced strong support for long-term stability in the world's most consequential economic relationship, as the partnership with China remains "enormously important" for US companies.

Having the direct involvement of both countries' presidents — which may pave the way for deeper high-level engagement — "gives us the best hope that we can have a stable, predictable relationship that serves the economies of both countries", said Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council.

The meeting "should set us up for a better, longer-term trade relationship", Stein said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

Founded in 1973, the US-China Business Council is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit association of more than 270 US companies that do business in China.

On the sidelines of the 2025 Bund Summit in Shanghai, Stein said he hopes future negotiations "can move beyond tariffs, tax rates and export controls" to explore how the two economies can cooperate more effectively — enabling companies from both countries to better compete and operate in each other's markets.

Despite recent trade tensions, Stein said most US companies remain deeply committed to the Chinese market. "We've seen over the last nine or 10 months that there has not been a significant increase in US companies leaving China."

Instead, he noted that several US firms are "increasing their reliance on China as a production base for the China market and for other global markets, because they know what they get — a stable investment climate".

"The focus is, US companies want to invest in China, want to expand in China and want to be part of the economic picture and growth of China," Stein said.

"The Chinese market remains our number one priority in the Asia-Pacific region," said Steven Sare, managing director for Asia-Pacific region of US apparel and accessories retailer Abercrombie and Fitch Co.

Apart from adding a new concept store in Shanghai next year, A&F will also step up its presence in top and second-tier cities by opening more stores, Sare said.

Stein said China is "enormously important" to US businesses, which goes far beyond its vast consumer market. "If you want to be globally competitive, you want to have China in your supply chain."

He pointed to the abundance of skilled Chinese talent — from researchers to welders and coders — and the speed of innovation as key factors driving US firms to deepen their footprint. "You can do research in China at 'China speed' in a way that you can't do necessarily in other markets."

As he looks forward to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), all of those trends will continue, Stein said. "China will become a more important part of corporate supply chains, and more innovation will take place here."

Even if political tensions persist, Stein said, US companies will stay committed to China. However, he warned that uncertainty could make it "harder to grow, to expand, and to do new lines of business".

He said policy coordination between the two governments — especially in technology — will be key. "If we really want greater cooperation in that space, we need action on the part of both governments to ensure that the world's most technologically advanced companies can operate in each other's economies."

Commenting on China's opening-up, Stein said the nation has made significant progress in improving the legal framework for foreign investment, and the next step is to ensure "these laws are implemented evenly across the country".

"China continues to expand high-standard opening-up and maintains a welcoming attitude toward foreign firms. That's very important to us," said Lin Chunmei, president and general manager of Corning Greater China, a unit of US-based materials science company Corning Inc.

Zhong Nan contributed to this story.