Informal elite networks, such as the Trilateral Commission, established in 1973 and still operational today, have not received much scholarly attention. After introducing the changes to the international power constellation that gave rise to the Commission, including how the Commission functioned as an incubator for consensus-building and coordination between North America, Western Europe, and Japan, the chapter explores the Commission’s involvement in the East-West conflict, especially its contribution to opening up China to foreign investments. In doing so, the chapter suggests that rigid ideas about a sharp distinction between state and non-state actors be replaced by an understanding of policymaking and diplomacy as taking place in overlapping transnational elite networks, merging formal and informal spheres.