As US urges foreign investment, Chinese firms see Trump policy and balk

When US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick addressed over 5,000 attendees via video at a major investment forum outside Washington last month, his message was clear: now is the time to invest in the US.

Aimed at a global audience of business leaders and investors, Lutnick’s remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit were meant to affirm America’s openness to foreign capital.

But for many Chinese firms, the message did not square with the suspicion they face in the US, even as it came just hours after Washington and Beijing announced a temporary trade truce in Geneva.

Weeks later, a much-anticipated deal with China is still pending and US President Donald Trump has veered from accusing Beijing of “totally violating” the Geneva terms to praising his counterpart Xi Jinping and touting an “excellent” bilateral relationship.

Meanwhile, the terrain for Chinese investment on the US state level is as complicated as ever, making it easy to understand why Lutnick’s words might not spur the kind of investment interest seen before Sino-American ties began to fray.

China, once the largest foreign delegation to the annual summit hosted by the US Commerce Department since 2011, sent only about 50 delegates this year.