China can turn US trade war ‘crisis into an opportunity’, says top leadership, as Donald Trump tweets complaint
- Quarterly Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping concluded China must rely on its domestic demand potential to manage ‘new risks and challenges’
- US president said that Beijing has not been ‘coming through’ in terms of buying American farm products or making progress on a deal to end the year-long trade war
China has the chance to turn “a crisis into an opportunity” with its response to the trade war with the United States, the country’s top leadership said on Tuesday, even as US President Donald Trump complained bitterly that Beijing has not started buying American farm products.
The Politburo, the ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body headed by President Xi Jinping, concluded that China must rely on the country’s domestic demand potential, including the vast countryside, to manage “new risks and challenges” and offset “growing downward pressure on economy”, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
China’s leaders believe they can stabilise manufacturing investment, renovate old city neighbourhoods and build up the facilities that are urgently needed by Chinese cities, from car parks to refrigerated transport and warehouses, Xinhua reported.
“We must be good at turning a crisis into an opportunity by getting our domestic things done,” the Politburo meeting said, according to Xinhua. “We will not use the property market to stimulate short-term growth.”