CHINESE President Xi Jinping has called for the development of an open global economy, after saying that his country will not accept 'selfish, short-sighted' trade policies
CHINESE President Xi Jinping has called for the development of an open global economy, after saying that his country will not accept 'selfish, short-sighted' trade policies. Mr Xi did not name the United States specifically during a speech at a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional security bloc led by China and Russia.
'We reject selfish, short sighted, closed, narrow policies, [we] uphold World Trade Organisation rules, support a multilateral trade system and building an open world economy,' Mr Xi said in a speech in Qingdao, reported Reuters.
The United States and China have threatened tit-for-tat tariffs on goods worth up to US$150 billion, as President Donald Trump has pushed Beijing to open its economy further and address the United States' large trade deficit with China.
Mr Xi spoke hours after Mr Trump said he was backing out of the Group of Seven communique, thwarting what appeared to be a fragile consensus on a trade row between Washington and its top allies.
'We must discard Cold War thinking, group confrontation; we object to acts of getting one's own absolute security at the cost of other countries' security,' said Mr Xi.
He also announced China would offer the equivalent of CNY30 billion (US$4.75 billion) in loans under a framework set up by SCO nations.
