As China heads into another round of trade talks with the U.S., SAP Software and Solutions (SAP SE) CEO Bill McDermott expressed his thoughts on the Chinese market, referring to the country as the "jewel in the crown" for the Walldorf-based software giant.
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, McDermott said, "We are not having challenges in China - we are doubling down in China," adding that for the German corporation, the Chinese market is still a cash cow.
McDermott's comments came days after other tech companies, including Caterpillar, Nvidia, and Apple, blamed their weak sales on China's slowing economy. For SAP, the Chinese market is still its biggest customer base.
Over the past years, SAP had been providing various software products to China and while the country reported its slowest growth margin in 2018, McDermott explained that the company is not experiencing what Nvidia and other corporations previously claimed.
McDermott also commented on the ongoing trade dispute between China and the U.S. He said a deal will benefit both sides in many ways, especially since the two countries are the largest economies in the world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump held a meeting in December to fix the trade dispute but to no avail. Both countries have agreed on a tariff truce but the truce will end in a month.
On Tuesday, Chinese officials arrived in Washington for another round of trade talks with U.S. officials. The delegation includes Vice-Premier Liu He, the country's top trade negotiator. People's Bank of China, Yi Gang, is also among the officials who will meet American leaders at the Eisenhower Executive Office.
Business Insider noted that Trump will attend the meeting as well. Analysts believe his attendance is an indication that the meeting is crucial to the results that will come out of the discussions.
As for the U.S. delegation, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, American Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, will be among the participants.
While some economic experts predicted earlier that a deal may be reached soon, others suggested that China and the U.S. have a long way to go before any deal is closed. These comments are attributed to the recent charges laid out against Huawei.
Huawei has refuted the claims repeatedly and challenged its accusers to disclose evidence to the public, the Chicago Tribune reported. The United States and other countries have not released public documents about the accusations yet.
Over the past years, the company had been setting up laboratories in different locations including Germany, Canada, and the U.K. This move was initiated to allow governments to conduct security system checks on hardware and software created by the Chinese tech giant.
