The Stockholm meeting fits a broader pattern of Beijing signalling openness to foreign capital at a time of slowing domestic growth and soft consumer demand, aiming to shore up sentiment among multinationals weighing exposure to China. Coming just ahead of a China-EU leaders’ summit, the outreach to a marquee European investor like the Wallenberg family carries symbolic weight for markets watching whether recent friction over EVs and technology exports can be contained without derailing broader commercial ties. Investors are likely to look past the rhetoric for concrete signs of improved market access or regulatory predictability at the summit itself, given persistent European business complaints on both fronts.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Investor AB’s Jacob Wallenberg in Stockholm that Beijing welcomes deeper cooperation with Swedish and European businesses, as China works to rebuild trust and reassure investors ahead of a China-EU summit.

Summary:

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Investor AB Chairman Jacob Wallenberg in Stockholm that China welcomes deeper cooperation with Swedish and European businesses
• Wang said the Wallenberg family was among the first European business groups to invest in China after its reform and opening-up policies, helping build economic ties over several decades
• He said Beijing and Stockholm are working to rebuild mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, and return relations to a healthier path
• Wang reiterated China’s commitment to boosting domestic demand, expanding high-level opening-up, and supporting free trade and market-based principles
• The meeting comes as Beijing seeks to reassure international investors following years of slowing growth, weak consumer demand and geopolitical tension with the West
• The talks took place ahead of a China-EU leaders’ summit expected later this month, where trade and investment are expected to feature prominently

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing welcomes deeper cooperation with Swedish and European businesses, framing closer commercial ties as beneficial for all parties during a meeting with Investor AB Chairman Jacob Wallenberg in Stockholm.

According to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry, Wang said the Wallenberg family was among the first European business groups to invest in China following the country’s reform and opening-up policies, and that the family’s flagship investment firm had made a distinctive contribution to bilateral relations over the following decades. He said he hoped the Wallenbergs and Sweden’s wider business community would continue supporting efforts to improve ties between the two countries, adding that Beijing and Stockholm are working to rebuild mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and steer the relationship back onto a healthier footing.

Wang used the meeting to reiterate several planks of China’s economic messaging to foreign investors, including a commitment to boosting domestic demand, expanding high-level opening-up and supporting free trade and market-based economic principles. He said these policies would generate additional opportunities for foreign companies operating in China. The remarks are part of a broader effort by Chinese officials to stabilize foreign investment and encourage multinational companies to maintain or expand their presence in the world’s second-largest economy, following several years of slowing growth, soft consumer spending and elevated geopolitical tension with Western governments.

The Stockholm meeting also comes against the backdrop of a gradual, if uneven, thaw in relations between China and the European Union, even as disagreements persist over trade imbalances, electric vehicle tariffs and technology export controls. European business groups have continued pressing Beijing for improved market access and more predictable regulatory treatment for foreign firms, concerns that are likely to resurface at a China-EU leaders’ summit expected later this month, where trade, investment and broader economic cooperation are set to feature prominently alongside wider geopolitical issues between the two sides.