Communist China’s Xi Roots for Free Trade, Berates Trump for
Protectionism
Chinese
President Xi Jinping urged global business and
political elites to reject trade wars and protectionism, in his first public
rebuttal of the policies advocated by incoming U.S. leader Donald Trump.
In a speech where he did not name Trump, but where his
comments were clearly targeted at the president-elect, Xi told the World
Economic Forum in Switzerland that failures of governance, not globalization,
were fueling anxiety around the globe. He called on the billionaires and
political leaders present to close wealth gaps and improve financial
regulation, without retreating from policies that have fueled decades of
growth.
Xi
indicated he recognized that if Beijing is provoked into a trade war with the
U.S. under Trump it would also be damaging to China’s own prospects.
“Pursuing
protectionism is like locking yourself in a dark room, which would seem to
escape the wind and rain, but also block out the sunshine and air,” Xi said,
the first Chinese head of state to address the annual summit in Davos. “Waging a
trade war will only cause injury and loss to both sides.”
Trump’s
surprise win in November -- after a campaign accusing China of “raping” America
of jobs- has helped fashion the Communist Party chief into an unlikely champion
of the global capitalist structures that have powered his country’s
decades-long boom. Xi’s remarks illustrated he is taking seriously Trump’s
threats to confront him with tariffs and currency measures after he takes
office on Friday.
The
world’s second-largest economy now 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
U.K.’s Brexit vote. Such “extreme weather events”
topped the list of most likely risks in the forum’s annual survey this year.
The
protectionist sentiment that threatens to slow China’s own growth also offers
Xi a chance to advance his goal of shaping global economic systems. Since
taking power in 2012, Xi has showed a desire to take a more high-profile role
on the world stage, addressing the United Nations in 2015 and hosting the Group
of 20 nations last year.
China has many ways to deal with protectionist actions
by the Trump administration, the official Economic Information Daily said in a
front-page commentary after Xi’s speech. China should prepare itself for any
risks to trade ties with the U.S., it said.
Xi in his remarks cited the Syrian refugee exodus and
the global financial crisis as examples of problems resulting from poor
management rather than greater economic links. He said world leaders had a
responsibility to improve regulation, reduce inequality and ease the “excesses”
of globalization.
“There
is no point in blaming economic globalization for the world’s problems because
that is simply not the case,” Xi said. “The history of mankind has shown us
that problems are not to be feared. What should concern us is the refusal to
face up to the problems.”