Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday cautioned against protectionism as he pushed back against criticism of globalization by US president-elect Donald Trump and other Western populists.
“Protectionism is like locking yourself in a dark room, which would seem to escape wind and rain, but also block out the sunshine,” Xi told the World Economic Forum (WEF), the first Chinese head of state to address the annual gathering in the Alpine resort town of Davos, Switzerland. “No one is a winner in a trade war.”
Xi used his speech to support a global economic order that has helped fuel China’s almost four-decade economic boom. While a surge in protectionist sentiment threatens to slow the engine of China’s growth, it also offers Xi a chance to advance his goal of shaping global economic systems.
Photo: EPA
In his speech, he did not refer to Trump by name.
The Chinese president called on the world’s business and political elite to address the problems of globalization, without turning away from economic trends that have fueled decades of growth.
Leaders should address the excesses of growth, such as growing wealth gaps, while embracing new industries and innovation, he said.
“There is no point in blaming economic globalization for the world’s problems, because that is simply not the case,” Xi said. “And that will not help to solve the problems.”
“The history of mankind has shown us that problems are not to be feared,” Xi said. “What should concern us is the refusal to face up to the problems.”
The world’s second-largest economy represents a bastion of consistency to Davos attendees facing a string of European elections — in France, the Netherlands, Germany and possibly Italy — after the twin shocks of Trump’s victory and the UK’s Brexit vote.
Such “extreme weather events” topped the list of most likely risks in the forum’s annual survey this year.
The Chinese president pledged to continue to overhaul China’s economic structure, saying that he had no intention of devaluing his country’s currency to boost competitiveness.
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has shown a desire to raise his profile on the world stage, addressing the UN in 2015 and hosting the G20 last year. He has touted China’s cooperation with outgoing US President Barack Obama on the Paris climate change deal — one of the multinational accords now questioned by Trump — as evidence of China’s support for sustainable global development.
Less than two weeks after Trump’s victory in November, Xi delivered a speech in support of free trade and globalization at the APEC summit in Lima.
Trump, who is scheduled to be inaugurated in Washington on the final day of the Davos meeting, said he would withdraw from the US-led, 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact on his first day in office.
China remains the world’s big driver of economic growth, despite its own slowdown, and was estimated to have accounted for almost 39 percent of global growth last year, according to the World Economic Forum.
Xi has sought to leverage China’s economic strength into diplomatic clout with multinational initiatives, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and his signature “One Belt, One Road” plan to expand infrastructure along ancient trading routes to Europe.
In September last year, Xi called for changes to international governance and advocated a bigger rulemaking role for China in areas ranging from the Internet to outer space.
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