High-tech innovations help revitalize foreign investment in China: Standard Chartered CEO

Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, has reiterated the multinational banking corporation's commitment to investing in China, highlighting how high-tech innovations are helping revitalize foreign direct investment in the country.

Standard Chartered signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation with China's CITIC Group in Beijing on Saturday. CITIC Group is one of China's largest conglomerates with a diverse range of businesses, particularly in the banking sector.

In an interview with China Global Television Network on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Winters emphasized the longstanding partnership between Standard Chartered and CITIC Group, noting the close collaboration on multiple financial fronts over the years.

"CITIC and Standard Chartered have been close friends for many years. We work together on many fronts across the financial businesses of the CITIC Group. So we have so many different touch points with the CITIC Group and between CITIC Group and Standard Chartered Bank that we thought it would be interesting to get our two extended teams together to have a really in-depth conversation about all the things that we're doing, but then all the areas where we could help each other going forward. And thankfully, there are many of them. We discuss those, and we expect our relationship to go from strength to strength," said Winters.

Winters has been in China for the past week to explore the country's growing prospects, including recent advancements made in key technological fields.

"I started this visit in Hong Kong where I had my senior leadership team together with our international advisory council from all over the world. We got together in Hong Kong. We talked about our business in China and our business globally. We talked a lot about AI, so the perfect next stop for me after that discussion was to go to Hangzhou and talk to our clients and our partners who are investing and have made such great strides in the areas of AI, not just in the large language models and the frameworks for using these tools, but actually the companies who are using the AI capabilities to enhance their own businesses, whether those are industrial businesses or customer-facing businesses," the CEO said.

Hangzhou City in east China's Zhejiang Province is home to rising AI star DeepSeek. The company has garnered global attention for its remarkably cost-effective approach to training AI models and the release of its R1 model early this year, which marked a major breakthrough in AI technology.

Noting Standard Chartered's long-standing presence in China for over 170 years, Winters reaffirmed the bank's commitment to the region, particularly as innovations help revitalize foreign direct investment in China.

"We've been investing consistently in China. We've been here for 170 years. We never left. The investments that we're making now are working with Chinese companies who are looking to develop their businesses internationally. It could be importing, they could be exporting, they could be expanding internationally. But also non-Chinese companies who are looking to invest into China," he said.

"Thankfully, given the outstanding centers of excellence in China, in some of these new economy technologies, the interest internationally in aligning with these Chinese businesses domestically is very great. We've had a relatively low period of equity-related foreign direct investment into China. And I think these new technical innovations could be the beginning of turning that back around. We of course want to be part of that," Winters added.

High-tech innovations help revitalize foreign investment in China: Standard Chartered CEO

Russia and the United States have agreed to ensure the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, provided that sanctions were eased on Russia's agricultural and food trade, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

The Kremlin said the agreement includes ensuring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, the non-use of force, and preventing commercial ships from being used for military purposes, with inspections in place to enforce this.

It also added that the United States will help in restoring Russia's access to global markets for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lowering shipping insurance costs, and improving access to ports and international payment systems.

The agreement will enter into force after a series of sanctions and restrictions related to its agricultural and food trade were lifted, the Kremlin noted.

The move would include lifting Western sanctions on the Russian Agricultural Bank, which services agricultural businesses, and reconnecting the bank to the SWIFT international messaging system.

Russia has also listed in the conditions the removal of restrictions on its food and fertilizer producers and exporters, on the servicing of related Russian-flagged vessels in ports, and on the related agricultural machinery supplies to Russia.

The Kremlin statement came after Russian and U.S. representatives wrapped up their Monday's talks in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, where both sides sought arrangements for the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.

Russia and Ukraine signed separately with Türkiye and the United Nations the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul in July 2022, which secured the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports.

As a parallel agreement, Russia and the UN signed a memorandum of understanding on the facilitation of Russian food and fertilizer exports.

On July 17, 2023, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea deal, citing unfulfilled commitments to the Russian part.

Kremlin says Russia, U.S. agree to ensure implementing Black Sea initiative