National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR)

In November 2023, Chinese Communist Party leader and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping spoke at a dinner co-hosted by the NCUSCR and the US-China Business Council. ² Attendees at the dinner allegedly spent $40,000 per plate to have a seat at the table with Xi. The event’s attendees reportedly included  Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, former California Governor Jerry Brown (D), and executives from Boeing, Pfizer, Nike, and FedEx. ^{3 3} In 2019, NCUSCR leadership signed an open letter that said China is not an “enemy” of the United States and said fears that China replacing the United States as a global leader are exaggerated. ^{4 5}

NCUSCR’s board of directors include former cabinet-level officials and U.S. Ambassadors to China from the Nixon administration, Ford administration, Carter administration, George H.W. Bush administration, Clinton administration, George W. Bush administration, and Obama administration. ⁶ The Carnegie Corporation of New York has given National Committee at least $2,618,627 since 2013, including $750,000 in 2023 and $750,000 in 2020. ⁷

History and Background

National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) was founded in July 1966 by a group of scholars, civic, religious, and business leaders to build relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. ^{8 9}

The organization received nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in August 1966. ¹⁰ That same year, NCUSCR received $250,000 per year from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and a one-time $450,000 grant from the Ford Foundation. It also received additional support from the Sloan Foundation, Hans Huber Foundation, and the Christopher Reynolds Foundation. ¹⁰

Throughout the 1970s, NCUSCR conducted public policy exchanges between the U.S. and China, including planning the visit of a group of Chinese table tennis players to the United States in 1972 that has become known as “Ping Pong Diplomacy” between the U.S. and China. In the 1980s, NCUSCR focused its efforts on the importance of maintaining communication between both countries to advance what the organization considered both global and local interests. ⁸

Leadership

Stephen Orlins has been the president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations since 2005. Previously, Orlins held senior roles at Carlyle Asia and Lehman Brothers. From 1976 to 1979, Orlins served in the Carter administration Department of State. In 1992, Orlins was the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Congress in New York’s Third Congressional District. ^{11 12}

Orlins opposes calls to decouple the United States and Chinese economies, and believes that U.S.-China relations are “worse” than at any time, including after the Tiananmen Square massacre. ¹³ Orlins supports the elimination of Trump administration-era tariffs targeting Chinese industry that the Biden administration has kept in place. He also supports revisiting the decision to delist Chinese companies on the American stock exchange due to national security concerns ¹⁴ and has claimed that U.S.-China strategic competition worsened the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹⁵ Orlins was “puzzled” by Trump administration efforts to make trade negotiations with China public; ¹⁶ opposes visa caps on the number of Chinese nationals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; ^{17 17} and has claimed that limiting access to Chinese Communist Party-aligned media outlets in the United States is a bad thing. ¹⁸

NCUSCR’s board of directors include former cabinet-level officials and U.S. Ambassadors to China from the Nixon administration, Ford administration, Carter administration, George H.W. Bush administration, Clinton administration, George W. Bush administration, and Obama administration. The board of directors includes Obama administration Ambassadors to China Jon Huntsman, Jr. and Gary Locke, George W. Bush administration Ambassador to China Clark Randt, Clinton administration Ambassador to China J. Stapleton Roy, and senior-level officials from Carnegie Corporation of New York, Wilson Center, and Ford Foundation. ⁶

Obama administration Secretary of the Department of Treasury and Biden administration Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew was previously chairman of the NCUSCR. ¹⁹

Activities and Funding

National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) is a nonprofit organization that encourages understanding and cooperation between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the belief that sound and productive Sino-American relations serve vital American and world interests. ¹⁰ Its sister organization is the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China (CSCPRC). ²⁰

As of November 2023, NCUSCR has more than 700 American members and 60 corporate and professional members. ⁸ The organization runs foreign policy programming, a fellows program, ²¹ public events, newsletters, a YouTube video channel, and podcasts to support its efforts. ²²

In 2021, the organization spent $2,487,823 on program expenses including exchanges between the U.S. and China, public education programs, and “Track II” dialogues between American and Chinese officials on digital economy, healthcare, economics, and maritime law issues. ^{23 24}

Controversy

In November 2023, Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, spoke at a dinner co-hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and US-China Business Council. ² Attendees at the dinner allegedly spent $40,000 per plate to have a seat at the table with Xi. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, former California Governor Jerry Brown (D), and executives from Boeing, Pfizer, Nike, and FedEx were reportedly in attendance. ^{3 3}

Following the meeting, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Mike Gallagher (R-WI) sent a letter to NCUSCR executive director Stephen Orlins asking NCUSCR to provide a list of event attendees, alleging that NCUSCR profited from Xi’s visit due to the $40,000 per seat ticket price. ²⁵

In 2019, NCUSCR leadership signed an open letter that said China is not an “enemy” of the United States and shared concerns about what the group referred to as the deterioration of the U.S.-China relationship. The letter also opposed economic decoupling and said the fear that China will replace the United States as a global leader is exaggerated. ^{26 5}

Funding

National Committee on United States-China Relations receives its funding from individual donations and grants. ²⁷ In 2021, NCUSCR reported revenue of $8,071,507 and expenses of $5,267,415. NCUSCR reported revenue of $5,059,166 and expenses of $4,925,601 in 2020. ²⁸

NCUSCR relies on institutional funders to support its operations. NCUSCR classifies the Starr Foundation as a founder-level funder. As of December 2022, NCUSCR’s cornerstone supporters include the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Citadel Securities, Dalio Philanthropies, the Blackstone Group, and the Henry Luce Foundation. NCUSCR’s chairs include AME Cloud Ventures, BlackRock, Citigroup Inc., and the General Atlantic Foundation. Other leaders, benefactors, and patrons associated with NCUSCR include Mastercard, Nike, PayPal, The Walt Disney Company, Walmart, William R. Rhodes Global Advisors, Merck, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, PwC, Vista Equity Partners, Benjamin D. Harburg Foundation, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Marks O’Neill O’Brien Doherty and Kelly, Morgan Stanley, Wall Street Investment Group, and Warbug Pincus. ²⁹

The Carnegie Corporation of New York has given NCUSCR at least $2,618,627 since 2013. This includes $750,000 in 2023 and $750,000 in 2020. ³⁰ In 2021, the National Committee received $1,000,000 from the Starr Foundation and $500,000 from Dalio Philanthropies. ³¹

NCUSCR has also received funding from the Kirkland and Ellis Foundation, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, and the left-of-center Ford Foundation. ^{32 33 34}