This article is part of our special section on the DealBook Summit that included business and policy leaders from around the world.

When President Biden met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, last month in their first face-to-face talks in a year, observers were watching for any hint of a thaw in relations. The leaders seemed happy to oblige.

“We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict,” Mr. Biden said in his opening remarks. “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” Mr. Xi said in his. “Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”

That the leaders of two of the world’s most powerful countries, which have been fierce rivals, were talking at all was seen as a small sign of progress. But a separate gathering later that day was revealing about how the two nations are linked.

At a San Francisco hotel, Mr. Xi hosted a banquet with a group of top American business leaders, including Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Larry Fink, the boss of BlackRock, the giant asset manager. Mr. Xi received a standing ovation and declared that China welcomed global business and was an open market, despite policies and actions that have demonstrated the opposite and forced some companies to exit the country.

So many executives were willing to show their support because China remains important for global business, despite the challenges of operating there and the economic slowdown in the country. Last year, bilateral trade hit a record high of almost $691 billion, according to U.S. government data.

ImagePresident Xi spoke to a group of business executives at a dinner during his visit to the United States. He received a standing ovation.Credit...Pool photo by Carlos Barria

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