KUALA LUMPUR • President Xi Jinping touted China as the pivot point for global free trade yesterday, vowing to keep its "super-sized" economy open for business and warning against protectionism as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Buoyed by the signing of the world's largest trade pact - the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - over the weekend, Mr Xi said the Asia-Pacific is the "forerunner driving global growth" in a world hit by "multiple challenges".
He vowed "openness" to trade and rejected any possibility of the "decoupling" of China's economy, in his only nod to the hostile trade policy of United States President Donald Trump's administration, which has battered China with tariffs and technology restrictions.
Mr Xi was speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum - held virtually this year due to the pandemic - which brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60 per cent of global gross domestic product.
It was not immediately clear if Mr Trump, wounded by his election loss to Mr Joe Biden, would take part in the two-day gathering or send a high-level delegate in his place.
In a speech that veered into triumphalism over China's economic "resilience and vitality" in bouncing back from the virus, which first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, Mr Xi warned that countries which insist on trade barriers would suffer self-inflicted wounds.
"Openness enables a country to move forward while seclusion holds it back," he said.
"China will actively cooperate with all countries, regions and enterprises that want to do so. We will continue to hold high the banner of openness and cooperation."
But Mr Xi's rhetoric may raise eyebrows in capitals where China has either restricted trade or used its giant economy as a bargaining chip in wider geopolitical disputes.
Australian exports of beef, wine and barley to China - their biggest market - have been restricted, as a diplomatic spat over the origins of the pandemic as well as accusations of espionage hammer relations.
The Apec summit comes less than a week after China and 14 other Asia-Pacific countries signed the RCEP. The agreement, which excludes the US, is viewed as a major coup for China and further evidence that Beijing is setting the agenda for global commerce as Washington retreats.
RCEP's rival was the Trans-Pacific Partnership - championed by former US president Barack Obama - but Mr Trump withdrew from it and the pact has now been replaced by a watered-down alternative that the US has not joined.
Mr Xi had no direct words for President-elect Biden, whose ascension to office next year - while still clouded by Mr Trump's refusal to concede defeat - is expected to see a more nuanced extension of Washington's current China policy.
Mr Biden has been strident on China's human rights record, from its treatment of Uighur Muslims in the restive Xinjiang region to Hong Kong's democracy movement.
Yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the summit's host leader, urged Apec members to recommit themselves to the group's core goal of free and open trade and investment.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha also echoed calls to embrace multilateralism while touting the signing of the RCEP as a pivotal moment for the region.
Other speakers included Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG
