| "Only if you open the window can fresh air flow in freely," Chinese President Xi Jinping said.
Xi put forward a three-point proposal on advancing global trade:
First, the G20 (Group of 20) economies should reject trade protectionism and safeguard and develop an open world economy.
Second, the G20 economies should strengthen the global multilateral trade system and push forward the Doha trade talks.
Third, the G20 economies should work to improve the global value chain and establish an integrated world market.
Xi Jinping urged the world's leading developed and developing economies to fight against trade protectionism during the eighth G20 Leaders' Summit held on September 6 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Addressing a meeting of the G20 leaders, Xi said that the global multilateral trade system now faces many challenges amid rising protectionism and stalled Doha talks, which hurts both the world's economic recovery and the interests of all countries.
Xi said the G20 economies, which account for 80 percent of world trade, should have a sense of crisis and assume the responsibility to advance a new round of global trade expansion.
The Chinese president also put forward a three-point proposal on advancing global trade.
First, the G20 economies should reject trade protectionism and safeguard and develop an open world economy.
"Only if you open the window can fresh air flow in freely," he said.
Adopting trade protectionism and abusing remedy measures will benefit no economy.
Xi urged the G20 nations to foster a free, open global trade environment, push for liberalization and facilitation of international trade, and adhere to the principle of resolving trade disputes through dialogue and negotiation.
Some developed countries should ditch unreasonable restrictions on high-tech exports, he added.
Second, the G20 economies should strengthen the global multilateral trade system and push forward the Doha trade talks.
At present, Xi said, the World Trade Organization remains the core and basis of the global multilateral trade system, whose vitality lies in its inclusiveness and non-discrimination.
Regional trade arrangements should adhere to the principle of openness, inclusiveness and transparency to benefit not only the participants themselves, but also show support for the global multilateral trade system and rules, Xi said.
Third, the G20 economies should work to improve the global value chain and establish an integrated world market.
Xi said the G20 countries should have a better understanding of the roles countries play, the value they create and the gains they enjoy in the global value chain.
Xi urged the G20 economies to strengthen coordination on trade policies and help developing countries on trade capacity building.
China has granted zero-tariff treatment to 95 percent of products from the least developed countries that have diplomatic ties with China, and plans to raise the percentage to 97 percent by 2015, Xi noted.
Xi also expounded China's position on trade, noting that China adopts a mutually beneficial, diversified yet balanced trade strategy. Xi said China will both keep exports stable and expand imports, strengthen trade and industrial policy coordination, speed up the opening-up of the services sector, and strive for balanced development of trade to better integrate into the global value chain.
China is ready to work together with other G20 members to promote free trade and safeguard and develop an open world economy, Xi said.
On September 6, the two-day-long G20 Leaders' Summit concluded in St. Petersburg, with the publication of the G20 Leaders' Declaration and G20 Fifth Anniversary Vision Statement. This reflects the G20's intentions and mechanisms for further work on stimulating strong, sustainable and balanced growth. |
