China’s Xi Jinping Warns Against Protectionism in Apparent Swipe at US

President Xi Jinping has pegged China as the pivot point for global free trade, vowing to keep his “super-sized” economy open and warning against protectionism in a global economy eviscerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. From a report: Buoyed by the signing of the world’s largest trade pact over the weekend, Xi said the Asia-Pacific is the âoeforerunner driving global growth” in a world hit by “multiple challenges,” including coronavirus. He vowed “openness” to trade and rejected any possibility of the “decoupling” of China’s economy — in his only comments nodding to the hostile trade policy of Donald Trump’s US administration, which has battered China with tariffs and tech restrictions. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, at which Xi delivered his comments, was held online this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. It brings together 21 Pacific rim countries including the world’s two biggest economies of China and the US, accounting for about 60% of global GDP.