Apple CEO Tim Cook was one of just three business titans seated at China President Xi Jinping’s table at last night’s dinner in San Francisco, a privilege that came at a cost of $40,000 a ticket, The New York Times reports.
The chief of Apple, which earns one-fifth of its revenue in China, was seated next to Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao at the event, held at the Hyatt Regency.
Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio also nabbed seats at the coveted table, where U.S. Commerce Secretary Dina Raimondo and U.S. China Ambassador Nicholas Burns were also in attendance.
Elon Musk attended the reception, costing $2,000 a ticket, along with Marc Benioff, chairman of Salesforce; Stan Deal, CEO of Boeing; and Raj Subramaniam, FedEx CEO.
Other notable business leaders at the dinner were Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer; Merit Janow, chairman of Mastercard; Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm; and Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom.
Xi began his keynote address asking, “Are we adversaries or partners?”
“If one sees the other side as a primary competitor, the most consequential geopolitical challenge, and a pacing threat, it will only lead to misinformed policymaking, misguided actions and unwanted results,” the 70-year-old Xi continued.
Saying his aim is a “win-win” relationship with the U.S, the Chinese president signaled China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”
“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said, hinting that the San Deigo Zoo might be the first to receive the first pair of pandas.
The dinner was at the end of a day in which Xi and President Joe Biden held their first face-to-face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce U.S.-China tensions. It was also the final day of a two-day meeting of 21 Pacific nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Washington, D.C.’s National Zoo’s three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, were returned to China eight days ago. Now, only four pandas are left in the United States, in the Atlanta Zoo.
“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas, and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi said.
Guests at the dinner were served a three-course meal consisting of an autumn vegetable salad, steak or vegetable curry as the main course, and a fresh fruit tart for dessert.
The wines served, Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc and Frank Family Carneros Pinot Noir, retail for an affordable $30 and $40, given the price of the tickets to the event.
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