Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to address trade between China and North America on Wednesday.
Jinping held talks with a number of North American business leaders in an attempt to rekindle trade ties with Western executives following years of growing tensions with the U.S. and Canada.
Chinese state media revealed that in addition to Carney, who served as Bank of Canada governor from 2008 to 2013, Stephen Schwarzman, boss of private equity firm Blackstone, and Cristiano Amon of chip manufacturer Qualcomm were among the 20 executives in attendance.
Carney went on from the Bank of Canada to become the Bank of England governor in 2013 and remained in that position until 2020 before becoming chair of Bloomberg. He is also an asset manager with Brookfield and a United Nations envoy on climate change. He is rumoured as a contender to seek the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada whenever Justin Trudeau steps down.
The meeting followed a complaint filed by Beijing to the World Trade Organisation on Tuesday accusing the United States of discriminatory practices for its electric vehicle subsidies.
While the Chinese commerce ministry didn’t provide details on what prompted the complaint, it may be linked to a new U.S. rule that came into effect Jan. 1 under U.S. President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which makes EV buyers ineligible for tax credits if critical minerals or batteries components were manufactured by China.
Foreign investment in China is currently at a 30-year low, as a result of growing tensions with the West, still China is targeting to have its economy expand by 5% this year.
According to the Telegraph, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that “the foundation for China’s sustained economic recovery and growth is not solid enough” and that its economy continues to face “many lingering risks and hidden dangers.”
The International Monetary Fund projects annual growth in China to fall to 3.4%c by 2028.
