Xi Jinping defends multilateralism against protectionism
The president of China on Thursday made a fiery defense of economic openness and multilaterialism amid protectionism of other countries to ensure economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Protectionism and unilateralism are mounting. Yet China has not stalled in its pursuit of opening up. As a matter of fact, we have taken many policy steps to open the country still wider," Xi Jinping said during his keynote address at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, hosted this year by Malaysia but held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic.
The president, who participated in a session prior to Friday's Leader's summit, ruled out that China would "disconnect" from the rest of the world's economies and said "mounting unilateralism, protectionism and bullying as well as backlash against economic globalization have added to risks and uncertainties in the world economy".
"China is already deeply integrated into the global economy and the international system. We will not reverse course or run against historical trend by "decoupling" or forming a small circle to keep others out. Openness enables a country to move forward, while seclusion holds it back," he warned.
Xi's message clashes with protectionist measures adopted in the United States by Donald Trump, who has also been invited to the summit, although it has not yet officially confirmed whether he will give a speech on Friday.
The Chinese leader stressed that "facing the sudden onslaught of COVID-19, China has put people and life above everything else", and reviewed the economic achievements of his country, which he wants to take to a new stage: "from next year on, China will embark on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country".
He explained that this new phase will be based on the expansion of domestic demand, scientific and technological development and the deepening of reforms to make the market more dynamic.
China has gained influence in the region by signing last Sunday the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement in the world, which also includes Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The APEC forum, founded in 1989, accounts for 60% of the world's GDP, more than half of global trade, forms a market of some 2.85 billion consumers (40% of the world's population) and aims to establish a free trade area between the 21 member economies.
APEC's member economies are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.