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US-China trade war
EconomyChina Economy

ExclusiveChinese Vice-President Wang Qishan to lead Davos delegation

  • World Economic Forum takes place with US-China trade war negotiations in the background
  • No confirmation yet on whether Wang will meet formally with US President Donald Trump who will also be attending

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Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore in November 2018. Photo: AFP
Zhou XinandDoug Palmer

This story is part of an ongoing series on US-China relations produced jointly by the South China Morning Post and POLITICO, with reporting from Asia and the United States.

China’s Vice-President Wang Qishan will lead the Chinese delegation at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting from January 22-25 in Davos, Switzerland, according to two separate sources familiar with the arrangements.

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It is not known if Wang will have an official meeting with US President Donald Trump, who will be making his second appearance at the annual gathering of global elites.

Wang, who has a reputation as China’s “firefighter” for his track record of handling Beijing’s most difficult tasks, has been cautiously stepping up on the diplomatic front.

He attended a new economic forum organised by US billionaire Michael Bloomberg in Singapore last November and criticised “unilateralism”, although he did not directly name Trump. And, at a forum in Guangzhou last month, Wang made another veiled attack on Trump’s trade policies when he criticised the adoption of a “zero-sum” mindset.
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In previous years Beijing has used Davos to present China as a business-friendly place to global political leaders, executives and opinion leaders.

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