Guwahati, April 1 -- Chee Meng Tan, University of Nottingham

China's president Xi Jinping recently held a meeting with 40 leaders of multinational companies, including BMW and AstraZeneca.

In contrast to Donald Trump's rhetoric, Xi told the top level executives that globalisation was not going away. Xi is attempting to boost foreign investment in China, which has dropped in the last few years, and build new relationships that will offset Trump's tariffs on many Chinese goods.

In the March 28 meeting, Xi "vowed to improve market access" and assured corporate leaders that "lines of communication" between them and the Chinese government are open.

Xi is hoping to build on an anti-Trump bounce and inspire businesses to back Beijing as some...