WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) — President Obama hosted a lavish state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday with a guest list featuring Hollywood and Silicon Valley glitterati, including the heads of Apple, Facebook, Disney and Dreamworks.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sat at the dinner’s head table alongside Obama and Xi. Disney CEO Bob Iger and DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg were also seated at the president’s side. The four CEOs lead companies doing billions of dollars of business in China, with the exception of Zuckerberg, whose Facebook is banned in the country. Apple is seeking to expand its sales in China and Iger is preparing to open Disney Shanghai, the company’s first park in mainland China.
The 200-plus guest list included “Empire” creator Lee Daniels and R&B singer Ne-Yo, who performed later in the night.
The dinner came just hours after Xi said his nation and the United States reached a consensus on cybercrimes. The United States has accused China of stealing millions in personnel records from federal computer systems.
In his toast, Obama acknowledged the differences between the two countries but said a history of cooperation dates back decades.
“Just as you say in China that a sea accepts a hundred rivers, our countries together are stronger when we accept the diversity of the views and the contributions and uphold the rights of all our people,” Obama said.
On the menu was poached Maine lobster, rice noodle rolls embedded with spinach, shiitake mushrooms and leeks and garlic fried milk, a crunchy and smooth Cantonese garnish for the grilled Colorado lamb.
