Zhu Yun was paying a one-and-a-half-day visit to Taipei for the autumn forum of the Asia Business Council, and was scheduled to be present at a dinner Friday evening which Ma would also attend. Zhu was visiting in his capacity as chairman of the China International Capital Corp., Ltd., a Beijing-based company which describes itself as China’s first joint venture investment bank.

Ma had been invited as a speaker to a dinner Friday evening, but would not hold separate meetings with any of the guests, including Zhu, presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said. The president was expected to spend at most half an hour at the event.

The dinner would be held at the prestigious Taipei Guesthouse, the building managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs across the street.

The forum organizers confirmed that Zhu had no plans to visit Ma nor major Taiwanese business people. The event gave an opportunity to visitors like Zhu to discuss economic and trade issues with colleagues under a roundtable formula, organizers said.

The Asia Business Council holds spring and autumn forums each year, but this was the first time the organization chose Taiwan as the location. Previous forums took place in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Most speakers at the forum Friday avoided discussions of Zhu, though Far Eastern Group Chairman Douglas Hsu praised him. Acer founder Stan Shih said the meeting’s most important function was to exchange views about the prospects for the regional economy. Relations between Taiwan and China would not be discussed, the veteran Taiwanese businessman said.

Zhu was not planning to give interviews or make any speeches or public statements, reports said.