The News
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.
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.”
