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China presents itself as a defender of global trade amid US tariffs

Mar 28, 2025, 7:18am EDT
China’s leader Xi Jinping speaks at a meeting with foreign business leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Florence Lo/Reuters
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China’s leader Xi Jinping presented Beijing as a defender of global trade as he courted dozens of international CEOs in an effort to bolster his country’s slowing economy amid a US tariff onslaught.

Xi used a speech in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to take aim at “individual countries” — a clear swipe at the US — for “politicizing, instrumentalizing, weaponizing” trade.

Faced with deflation and faltering growth, Xi’s government has sought to woo back foreign firms after years of crackdowns and harsh COVID-19 restrictions that deterred businesses.

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It comes as investors braced themselves ahead of US President President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs coming into effect next week: Money managers the world over are “de-risking their portfolios” by seeking out safe assets, eschewing emerging markets, and holding off on big bets, Bloomberg reported.

Yet while China talks a good game on promoting trade, it has long imposed barriers: A former US trade representative argued in Foreign Affairs that American policy “looks an awful lot like Beijing’s.”

A chart showing net inflows of foreign direct investment as a percentage of China’s GDP.
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