Jamie Demon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, declared on Wednesday that his company would leave China at the behest of the US government.
During a discussion about a possible future conflict over Taiwan at the Deal Book Summit, Demon declared, “If the American government makes me leave China, I’m leaving China.” “You would take all bets off if there was a war in Taiwan.”
JPMorgan handles payments, asset management, corporate and investment banking, and claims to have been operating in China for a century on its website. Growing geopolitical tensions brought on by Israel’s and Ukraine’s wars have sparked worries that China may try to annex Taiwan.
In reference to a conflict over Taiwan, Demon stated, “Nobody thinks it’s going to happen; it may happen.” “Both the world and China would suffer greatly from that.”
Relationships with China, the second-biggest economy in the world, are “a very complicated subject,” according to Demon, who also insisted that communication with the US government was required.
“If it makes sense, I think it’s good for an American bank to be there to help China and multinationals around the world with their own development,” Demon stated. “So be it if the U.S. government says, ‘Nope, can’t do that anymore,’ for whatever reason.”
While the United States enjoys cordial ties with Mexico and Canada, Demon also noted that China has “done a pretty good job angering all the people around them” and that the nation has “terrible demographics.”
The parent company of TikTok, Byte Dance, and fast-fashion retailer Shein are among the Chinese clients that the bank counsels.
“You can imagine the due diligence and work we do to figure out the truth about those things,” Demon said in response to questions about TikTok security.
He declared, “We would not bank them if some of those people are doing things that we think are really bad.”
