On tariffs, Chinese urge ‘dialogue, not confrontation’

BOAO, China — President Xi Jinping on Tuesday portrayed China as committed to opening its economy as he presented an alternative vision to President Donald Trump’s calls for tariffs and restricting trade, urging “dialogue rather than confrontation.”

Speaking publicly for the first time since the beginning of an escalating trade dispute between his country and the United States, Xi implicitly took aim at the Trump administration.

“The Cold War mentality and zero-sum game are increasingly obsolete,” Xi said. “Only by adhering to peaceful development and working together can we truly achieve win-win results.”

Xi also pledged to rebuff efforts to impose barriers to world trade, saying that “China’s opening door will not be closed and will only open up even wider.”

On Wall Street, the A worker checks rolls of aluminium at a factory in China’s Shandong province Saturday. President Donald Trump and China’s government have engaged in a trade clash, but on Tuesday, China’s leader struck a more moderate tone.

more moderate tone sent equities markets up in trading Tuesday, with the three major indexes rising roughly 2 percent.

Xi highlighted areas where China was willing to give, including pledging to ease restrictions on imported cars by the end of the year as well as repeating open-ended promises to give foreigners greater access to the country’s financial markets — promises officials have made in the past. He also pledged to strengthen

intellectual property rights, addressing one of Trump’s main complaints.

His comments struck a tonal contrast with the more combative language coming from Trump and his administration.

“We should respect each other’s core interest and major concerns and follow a new approach to state-to-state relations, featuring dialogue rather than confrontation,” Xi said. “We live in a time with an overwhelming trend toward openness and connectivity.”