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China’s Xi calls on top executives to help ‘uphold global order’ as trade tensions with U.S. rise

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China’s and U.S.’ flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. 

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with global executives and made a case for investing in the country, as Beijing focuses on reaching out to businesses amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S.

He said multinational companies had a big responsibility to “uphold global order” and that they needed to work hand in hand with China.

He emphasized that China was a safe and stable place for foreign companies. “To invest in China is to invest in tomorrow,” he said in Mandarin translated by CNBC. 

Echoing recent policy plans, Xi said that China would ensure fair opportunities for foreign businesses to participate in government procurement bids.

More than 40 people, mostly foreign executives and business officials, attended the roundtable meeting with Xi, including Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters  and Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwartzman.

U.S. President Donald Trump has raised tariffs by 20% on China since January over its alleged role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, and threatened a swath of new tariffs on major trading partners starting early April. Trump this week said he might reduce China tariffs to help close a deal that forces Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations.

The U.S. this week also added dozens of Chinese tech companies to its export blacklist, the first such restrictions under the Trump administration.

China has increased its trade with Southeast Asian countries and the European Union, but the U.S. remains Beijing’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis.

Xi said U.S.-China trade tensions should be resolved through negotiations. “We need to work for the stability of global supply chains,” he added, noting there was no way out under decoupling.

Politburo standing committee member Cai Qi, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Vice Premier He Lifeng also attended the meeting along with the heads of China’s economic planning agency, finance ministry and commerce ministry.

In a sign of how Beijing seeks to offset trade pressures, rather than retaliate forcefully, China courted the executives of major U.S. businesses at a state-backed annual conference that ran from Sunday to Monday. Apple CEO Tim Cook was among the executives who attended, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk was conspicuous by his absence.

Also on Sunday, U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing — the first time a U.S. politician has visited China since Trump began his latest term in January.

“This was the first step to an important next step, which will be a meeting between President Xi and President Trump,” Daines told the Wall Street Journal. “When that occurs and where it occurs is to be determined.”

The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Li urged cooperation and said no one can gain from a trade war, according to state media.

Top executives of major firms including FedEx, Pfizer, Cargill, Qualcomm and Boeing as well as U.S.-China Business Council President Sean Stein were also present at Daines’ meeting with Li, according to a foreign media pool report.

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T. Rowe Price likes stock picking now

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One of the largest active ETF managers on leveraging fund tactics in new ways

It appears T. Rowe Price is benefitting from the record growth in actively managed exchange traded funds.

Tim Coyne, the firm’s head of ETFs, reports the firm is seeing significant growth in the area — listing the T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (TCAF) and T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF (TSPA) as two established strategies that can satisfy investor demand.

“I think having that professionally managed portfolio is really beneficial to clients,” Coyne told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. “We’re seeing just… greater volatility [and] uncertainty across both the equity and fixed income markets.

According to Coyne, the T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF suits investors who are looking for long-term growth.

“The objective of the fund is to outperform the S&P 500 with lower volatility and greater tax efficiency,” he said. “It’s also a more concentrated portfolio, typically holding around a hundred names.”

As of April 24, the fund’s top holdings include Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple according to the T. Rowe Price website. But it’s not all Big Tech. The ETF also features smaller positions in companies like Becton Dickinson and Roper Technologies.

The T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF is down about 5% so far this year while the S&P 500 is off about 7% However, the ETF is up close to 8% over the past year — roughly identical to the S&P 500’s performance.

Coyne notes the T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF follows a similar strategy, but with a heavier weighting in top tech stocks.

“This is more of a large-cap growth product [T Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF],” he said. “There are components of characteristics of both passive and active here. This fund is actually managed by our North American directors of research. So again, strong fundamental research is going into the stock selection.”

Both the T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF and S&P 500 are down around 7% since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the fund is up almost 9% over the past year. That’s less than one percent better than the S&P 500’s performance.

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T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF vs. S&P 500

‘Some form of bear market’

Strategas Securities’ Todd Sohn thinks investment demand for active managers will continue to be strong.

“This is the type of the environment where it [active management] can actually shine,” the firm’s senior ETF and technical strategist said. “We are in some form of bear market. This is where the active manager really can come into hand and offer their solution they are doing right.”

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