Xi Jinping calls for freer service trade as China tries to counter decoupling
- Xi’s advocacy of international cooperation comes as opposition to China builds in Washington and New Delhi
- The Chinese president calls upon other countries to help forge an ‘open and inclusive’ environment
Xi’s advocacy of international cooperation at the opening ceremony of the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the first big trade fair since the Covid-19 pandemic struck, came as opposition to China has been building in Washington and New Delhi.
China has “overcome many difficulties” to host such an international trade event, Xi said, and hopes “to work with every other country … to jointly promote global services trade and promote the rapid recovery of the world economy”.
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Xi did not mention the United States or India in his speech. But he made an attempt to position China as a fighter against “unilateralism” and a power that could be relied upon when the world faces the “unprecedented challenges” of shrinking trade and economic growth.
“China will unswervingly expand opening up [its economy] … lower market access barriers for the services industry, and actively expand imports of high-quality services,” Xi said. He did not provide any details of how this would be translated into policy.
Xi added: “China will actively … promote the coordination of services trade rules, improve global economic governance, and promote inclusive growth of the world economy.”
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Xi had attended China’s import expo in Shanghai for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019, pledging to the world business community that China’s market would be opened wider despite its trade frictions with the United States.
However, Beijing’s pro-trade message faces scrutiny as barriers remain high for foreign investors to access the country’s 1.4 billion consumers. In online services, China has banned Google, Twitter, Facebook and Netflix. In financial services, China continues to impose many restrictions on foreign banks and financial institutions despite recent increases in access for selected firms.
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Telemedicine, online education, sharing platforms, collaborative offices and cross-border e-commerce have all played important roles in stabilising the economies of various countries and promoting international antivirus cooperation during the pandemic, he said.
“Looking to the future, open cooperation in the service industry is becoming an increasingly important force for development,” he said.
He also called on all countries to work together to eliminate the “digital divide” between rich and poor countries and promote the digitalisation of the service trade.
