Xi Jinping makes fresh promises to open China’s economy and boost imports
- Xi says China has made long-term commitment to buy US$30 trillion worth of goods and US$10 trillion worth of services in next 15 years
- Xi backs globalisation and attacks unilateralism, but he does not single out US or Donald Trump
Chinese President Xi Jinping made fresh promises on Monday to open China’s economy to the outside world, including lowering import tariffs and broadening market access, and voiced support for economic globalisation as the country is locked in a trade war with the US.
In his keynote address to the inaugural China International Import Expo, an event created by Beijing to signal its intentions to increase its business with the rest of the world, Xi said China’s promise to buy more products and services from abroad is “not a temporary arrangement but a long-term consideration” and that the fair would become an annual event.
China’s total purchase of foreign goods would amount to US$30 trillion over the next 15 years, while its purchase of services would reach US$10 trillion in the same period, Xi said.
In addition, China would open up its lucrative domestic health care and education sectors, financial services, telecoms and mining, to foreign investors, Xi said. Its free-trade port on tropical island Hainan would speed up the process, while Shanghai would have greater autonomy for “free trade” trials, he said.
Xi also announced that a “tech board” would be established in Shanghai to rival Hong Kong and the Nasdaq so that China’s start-ups can raise funds from the capital market more easily.
While Xi did not directly mention the US or President Donald Trump at any point in his 35-minute speech, the trade war set the stage. In contrast to Trump’s “America first” policy and threats to undo the multilateral trade system, Xi on Monday tried to position China as an open economy and as an ardent defender of free trade.