President Xi Jinping told policymakers on Sunday that China is resolute in the opening of its economy, Reuters reports, despite the growing threat of protectionism and unilateral politics on the world stage.
Without explicitly mentioning recent trade tensions with Washington, Xi said during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Beijing that “China’s determination to fully deepen reforms will not change.”
“We are willing to use practical actions to drive all parties to jointly adhere to trade liberalisation and facilitation and build an open world economy,” said Xi, without specification on the meaning of “practical actions.”
Beijing has been heavily critical of the Trump administration’s use of tariffs to force change in China’s trade relationship with the US. After several rounds of tit-for-tat levies, the two countries have now applied duties of $50 billion of each other’s goods, with the US set potentially to impose tariffs on a further $200 billion of Chinese imports as early as this week.