China Pledges to Lead the Way on Global Trade

Chinese president Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to open the door even wider to foreign business and play an even greater role in the process of globalisation as Beijing moved to take advantage of Donald Trump’s election and fears that he may herald a new era of US disengagement from Asia.

Speaking to business leaders on the sidelines of a 21-country Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, Mr Xi offered a vision of a Chinese-led order marked by openness to trade and the free flow of investment. In a thinly-veiled rebuke of US President Barack Obama’s push to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership with Japan and 10 other economies that excluded China he also vowed to pursue trade agreements open to all….

…Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the Council of the Americas, said Saturday’s speech by Mr Xi looked like the announcement of a “strategic realignment” in the Pacific Rim.

“He clearly said we are open for business and we want you to come along … You compare and contrast that with where the United States is heading — and we may be looking more inward — it is a moment where if you are on the fence in terms of what direction you want to go or where your future lies you have to look at China.”

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