ExclusiveChina President Xi Jinping to speak at Shanghai import expo next month in bid to offset US trade war worries

Xi Jinping is expected to again give a keynote speech on the first day of the China International Import Expo, which will be held from November 5-10

China is seeking to attract the international business and investment community amid the trade war with United States which has slowed growth to a record low

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Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (second left), Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) visited the 2018 China International Import Expo. Photo: EPA

Sidney Lengin Hong KongandDaniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 6:00pm, 25 Oct 2019Updated: 6:01pm, 29 Oct 2019

President Xi Jinping is again expected to attend the first day of a key import expo in Shanghai at the start of November to deliver a message to the global trade and investment community that China remains open for business, according to two sources briefed on the arrangements.

One source, who declined to be identified as the appearance is still confidential, said Xi is expected to deliver a keynote speech on the first day of the China International Import Expo, which will be held from November 5-10, to reinforce Beijing’s narrative that China’s development is an opportunity for, not a threat to, the rest of the world.

The event would offer a venue for Xi to present his thinking about the global economy and China’s prospects just a few days before he flies to Chile for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, where he is expected to sign a temporary trade deal with the US President Donald Trump.

If confirmed, it will be Xi’s second consecutive appearance at the fair, which is designed by the Chinese government to impress global merchants and investors of China’s huge market potential and Beijing’s commitment to market opening.

It would also be part of Beijing’s ongoing strategy to persuade the international business and investment community that China’s appetite for doing business with the rest of the world has not been adversely affected by the trade war with the United States.