Chinese leader Xi Jinping held court with dozens of the world’s top executives on Friday, as he sought to bolster foreign investment during an escalating trade war with the United States.

China's President Xi Jinping urged a gathering of multinational CEOs on Friday to protect global industry and supply chains, as Beijing seeks to assuage foreign firms' concerns over the Chinese economy's health amid threats of more U.

Capping a week of courting the world’s top CEOs, China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday made one of his most impassioned defences yet of international trade, as the system of globalised supply chains that helped catapult China to economic superpower status teeters on the brink.