Xi slams Trump’s beggar-thy-neighbour policy
If Chinese President Xi Jinping is getting ready to make big concessions to the US, his much-anticipated speech at a Shanghai trade fair didn’t show it.
Xi hit back against President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies on Monday with some of his most pointed language yet, denouncing “law of the jungle” and “beggar-thy-neighbour” trade practices. At the same time, he didn’t outline any new proposals that would suggest he was prepared to meet Trump’s demands, such as halting forced technology transfers or rolling back support for stateowned enterprises. Stocks declined across Asia.
“All countries should strive to improve their business environment and solve their own problems,” Xi told the inaugural China International Import Expo, which featured more than 3,600 companies from 172 countries, regions and organizations. “They shouldn’t always whitewash themselves and blame others, or act like a flashlight that only exposes others, but not themselves.”
Xi stopped short of naming Trump or the US in the speech, his most high-profile economic address since April. Instead, he stepped up warnings that protectionism would harm global growth while pledging to boost domestic consumption, strengthen intellectual property protection and advance trade talks with Europe, Japan and South Korea.
While Trump has floated the possibility of a deal when he meets Xi in the coming weeks, the two sides remain far apart on resolving key US complaints.