LIMA, Peru: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday called for Asia-Pacific economies to “unite and cooperate” in the face of mounting “protectionism,” at a summit in Peru.
Speaking to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders hours before he is due to hold talks with US counterpart Joe Biden, Xi pointed to “challenges such as geopolitics, unilateralism and rising protectionism.”
“We must unite and cooperate,” he added, in remarks published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Xi’s planned meeting with Biden comes two months before Republican President-elect Donald Trump — who engaged in an escalating tariffs war with Beijing during his first term in office — returns to the White House in January.
On the campaign trail this time, Trump has vowed a series of protectionist trade policies including across-the-board tariffs on all imports and especially high levies on China.
On Saturday, Xi urged APEC members to stand firm on multilateralism and open economies while pushing for regional integration.
He nodded to efforts in creating an Asia-Pacific free trade area — which has been in the works for years — and said that Beijing is willing to negotiate trade agreements in the digital and green sectors.
Xi, whose country will host APEC in 2026, also called for greater cooperation in frontier fields like artificial intelligence and quantum information.
On Friday, Xi told the APEC CEO Summit that attempts to reduce global economic interdependence was “nothing but backpedalling.”
In a written speech addressing the APEC CEO Summit 2024, the Chinese leader called for efforts to steer economic globalization in the right direction, jointly promoting a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization to the benefit of various countries and communities, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
Xi said the entire Asia-Pacific is deeply woven into the fabric of economic globalisation, and is now an interdependent community with common interests and a shared future.
On the other hand, the world is in a new period of turbulence and transformation, said Xi, warning that the grave challenge of economic globalization is like sailing up a river — we either forge ahead or drift downstream.
“Where will the Asia-Pacific economy be going? It is a decision we must make,” Xi said. – AFP
