China’s Xi Jinping Pledges Stronger Domestic Market, Global Ties as Strife With West Brews - The Wall Street Journal

ringrongs.blogspot.com

Chinese President Xi Jinping during a symposium with entrepreneurs in Beijing on Tuesday.
Photo: Ju Peng/Zuma Press

July 22, 2020 5:21 am ET

SHANGHAI—China’s president pledged to keep strengthening the country’s domestic market while further opening it to foreign investors during a meeting with local and international businesspeople, signaling his willingness to bolster economic ties at a time of rising international tensions.

Xi Jinping’s remarks come as confrontation has been increasing between Beijing and the West, as more countries follow the U.S. lead in limiting Chinese companies’ presence in their markets.

At a symposium Tuesday where several corporate executives also spoke, Mr. Xi said China was “on the right side of history” in remaining committed to globalization, and urged Chinese firms to boost their overseas expansion, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Last week, the British government said it would bar local companies from purchasing new equipment made by China’s Huawei Technologies Co. for their 5G networks, after having previously approved Huawei’s involvement. The about-face signals a newfound willingness among Western powers to confront China after Beijing imposed a controversial national-security law on the former British colony of Hong Kong in June.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised London’s decision to exclude Huawei during a visit to the U.K on Tuesday, and urged countries to work together to counter China’s strategic ambitions.

The speakers at Tuesday’s symposium included executives of Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. —blacklisted by the U.S. government—Panasonic China and Microsoft Corp., according to Xinhua.

Mr. Xi also called for efforts to make up for losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic and to strive for good economic development this year.

He said the government would make fiscal policy more proactive and monetary policy more flexible. China’s economic recovery and pandemic-control efforts have been better than expected, Mr. Xi said.

The Chinese economy grew 3.2% from a year earlier in the second quarter, making it the first major country to return to growth since the pandemic started earlier this year.

But economists warned of dangers from the uneven recovery in the world’s second-largest economy as consumers tighten their purse strings amid stagnated income growth and elevated jobless rates. They also underscored uncertainties over the global economic recovery, given recent upticks in new infections, which slacken demand for Chinese exports that held up surprisingly well in the first half of the year.

Mr. Xi said China won’t close its doors to the world in the face of rising protectionism, a cooling global economy and weakening demand. Instead, China will take full advantage of its huge domestic market and better connect it with the global market to achieve robust and sustainable economic growth, he said.