Chinese President Xi invokes Gettysburg Address in defense of free trade

Xi sought to counter fears that the United States and China were heading for a currency or trade war.

President Xi Jinping this month will become the first Chinese head of state to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Trump promised to withdraw from the Paris accords on the campaign trail and “cancel” funding for United Nations global warming programs – spending promised developing countries to forgo fossil fuels.

China’s President Xi Jinping, also the Communist Party leader, opened the World Economic Forum in Davos today by promoting globalization in what was a clear sign that China is anxious how potential trade barriers arising from populist movements in the USA and Britain will affect the country’s economic growth, of which exports remain a key component.

Senior Chinese government figures joined Xi in traveling to Davos.

This “may be the start of China’s new role as a leader in promoting globalisation and a speedy recovery of the global economy”, says China’s official Xinhua news service, as Western countries turn to “isolationist self-centredness”. Just over a quarter century after the Chinese Stalinist regime restored capitalist relations and opened up China to worldwide capital, Xi referred to a growing sense among vast numbers of people internationally that capitalism is failing. China also holds about $1.1 trillion in Treasury securities as of the end of December.

China’s foreign ministry stressed that the “One China” policy was the foundation of China-US ties was non-negotiable but Mr Trump has cast this into doubt. Rather, China can be the most vigorous force in the powerful trend of globalization.

In Fortune, Scott Cendrowskidescribed Xi as idealizing “a troubled China”, noting that while he presented China as being open for global trade, businesses that work in China express concerns over “unfair regulations, unclear laws and Chinese protectionism”. “We don’t make good deals anymore”. He added, however, that the economic liberalisation of the past quarter or a century was not the root cause of the world’s many problems and that the financial crash of 2008 was the result of excessive pursuit of profit.

“It is true that economic globalisation created new problems but this is no justification to write off economic globalization altogether”, he said.

Trump has rejected the idea that humans are responsible for climate change, going against the consensus supported by the overwhelming majority of scientists.

Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong last week called Xi’s speech no less than “a blueprint for the future progress of humanity”, and state-run China Daily labeled Xi “the general secretary of globalization“.

They warned of China’s “hard landing” as its economy sputtered.

Xi is not expected to wade into the tit-for-tat with Trump in Davos. The headline reads “Outsider strikes back”.

China has borne the most criticism from the West in terms of the South China Sea disputes.

China has always been reluctant to assume worldwide leadership. Such a policy is far harder to impose in the US, he said, despite Trump’s rhetoric.

“President Xi’s instinct and foresight in today’s speech is impressive”, he told Xinhua after listening to Xi’s keynote speech.