Davos: Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke out against protectionism during a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, indirectly rebuking President-Elect Donald Trump only days before the later takes office.
Xi dismissed the possibility of any benefits coming from trade wars, saying that “there can be no winner is such a war” as he continued the argument for developing global connectivity to support free trade and investment, and to continue liberalising regulation. And he hit out at Trump’s rhetoric when he said that “multilateralism means that individual states cannot select or bend rules as they want”.
In a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke out against protectionism and trade wars. Gulf News Editor at Large Francis Matthew reports from Davos.
Xi’s keynote address was main event for the annual meeting of global elite in the Swiss ski resort. The forum ends the same day that Trump taking office. During his campaign, he frequently blamed China and globalisation for the loss of millions of US factory jobs.
In his defence of globalisation and its benefits, Xi made clear that many of the world’s ills were not created by globalisation. He said that the millions of refugees and thousands of dead children were not victims of globalisation but of war and conflict.
Xi insisted China was committed to “opening up” and stood by globalisation’s gains for emerging economies. He also defending the Paris accord on climate change, which is also in Trump’s sights.
Xi also listed some global economic problems that need to be addressed, such as the failure to sustain growth and “inadequate global governance.”
