• China's Xi met with foreign CEOs in Beijing

• Around 40 executives joined the meeting, sources

• China has struggled to reassure foreign investors

BEIJING, March 28 (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping met with global CEOs in Beijing on Friday, as the government tries to woo foreign firms whose investment could give the ailing Chinese economy a boost and help insulate it against simmering geopolitical tensions.

Beijing has struggled to assuage foreign investors' concerns over the durability of the $18 trillion economy, while longstanding unease over China's tightening regulations, abrupt crackdowns on foreign firms, and an uneven playing field favouring state-owned companies clouds business sentiment.

"I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the foreign enterprises that have participated in and supported China's development," Xi told the business leaders, who included the bosses of AstraZeneca, AZN.L , FedEx FDX.N , Saudi Aramco 2223.SE, and Standard Chartered STANB.UL.

"Foreign enterprises contribute one-third of China's imports and exports, one-quarter of industrial added value and one-seventh of tax revenue, creating more than 30 million jobs," Xi added.

Around 40 executives joined the meeting, said two sources with direct knowledge of its planning. The majority of which represented the pharmaceuticals sector, one source said.

The frequency of meetings between foreign executives and high-level Chinese officials has picked up over the past month, after official data showed foreign direct investment plummeted 27.1% year-on-year in local currency terms in 2024.

That marked the biggest drop in FDI since the 2008 global financial crisis.

"Transnational corporations play an important role in safeguarding the world economic order," Xi said, while encouraging the companies in attendance to "raise their voices of reason and take pragmatic actions" to this end.

The meeting followed last weekend's China Development Forum (CDF), a flagship business event that this year saw Premier Li Qiang urge countries to open their markets and combat "rising instability and uncertainty".

Xi last year met with American business leaders after the annual business forum, an assignment previously delegated to the Premier, the top leader's second in command.

"I wonder if there is a precedent now, and they will do this annually," said one of the sources, who was involved in the meeting's planning.

China's leader has taken it upon himself in recent months to reassure and energise businesses both foreign and domestic.

Last month Xi held a rare pro-business meeting with some of the biggest names in China's technology sector, including Alibaba's Jack Ma, urging the entrepreneurs to "show their talent" and be confident in the power of China's model and market.