China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger in Beijing on Friday, state media reported, as the U.S. entertainment group seeks to deepen its presence in the world’s second-largest economy amid strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
During the meeting, Ding encouraged Disney to expand its investment in China, in a signal that Beijing is seeking to reassure foreign companies after a period of heightened geopolitical and trade tensions.
The outreach marks a softer tone from Chinese authorities compared with last year, when officials warned that imports of U.S. films could be further restricted in response to U.S. tariffs and other trade measures.
For Disney and other Hollywood studios, China remains a strategically important but tightly regulated market. The country’s large, increasingly affluent urban population represents a major opportunity for theme parks and consumer products, but Beijing strictly limits the number of foreign films that can be shown in Chinese cinemas each year, capping potential box-office revenue and brand exposure.
That dynamic has made theme parks a critical channel for U.S. entertainment companies seeking long-term growth in China. Disney opened its Shanghai resort in 2016, marking its biggest single overseas investment at the time, and has since expanded the park with new attractions and hotel capacity.
Iger, who returned as Disney’s chief executive in 2022, is widely credited with transforming the company into a global entertainment powerhouse through major acquisitions including Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, which owns the Star Wars franchise.
Those franchises underpin much of Disney’s global merchandise, streaming and theme park businesses, making access to large overseas markets such as China increasingly important as growth in North America matures.
Neither Disney nor China’s State Council immediately provided further details on the content of the meeting.
Beijing in recent months has stepped up efforts to court foreign investors as it seeks to stabilise growth and restore business confidence following a prolonged property downturn, weak domestic demand and a series of regulatory crackdowns that unsettled private and foreign firms.
The meeting with Iger follows similar engagements between senior Chinese officials and executives from multinational firms in sectors ranging from automotive and finance to consumer goods, as China signals that it remains open to foreign capital despite ongoing strategic rivalry with the United States.
