Apple CEO Tim Cook -- front row, third from left -- chats with other attendees before the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai Guesthouse in Beijing on March 23. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
STELLA YIFAN XIE
HONG KONG -- China's top leaders signaled confidence days before an expected escalation in U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war, while rolling out a welcome mat for foreign corporate executives.
In a speech to dozens of top executives from Apple, Qualcomm, Boeing and other multinationals, Chinese Premier Li Qiang struck an upbeat tone and vowed to step up policy support to achieve the government's annual growth target of around 5%, even as the country confronts rising uncertainty in a fragmenting global economy.