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BEIJING, June 21-- Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday met with executives of a number of famous multinational companies, who are in Beijing to attend a special session of the round-table summit of the Global CEO Council. Focusing on the summit's theme of opening up, cooperation and mutual benefit, Xi and the executives exchanged views on topics ranging from the Belt and Road Initiative, innovation and smart manufacturing, to green development and global governance. Xi said the companies had participated in, witnessed, contributed to and benefited from the reform and opening-up drive of China over the past four decades, during which the country sustained rapid economic growth and helped more than 700 million of its people shake off poverty, according to UN standards. Looking forward to the future, China had more confidence in reform and opening up, and more belief that opening up can be a key move for China's development, he said. Since 2017, the global economy had seen steady and positive development. However, Xi said world economic growth was still weak, as trade protectionism, isolationism and populism continued to rise, and the challenges to world peace and development were getting more severe. "In the new situation, opening up should never stop and quality of the opening up should be pursued," Xi said. "People should carry out cooperation to help each other and face challenges together, while pursuing a win-win situation. | 
