Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy and less threats. That is the message that sneaks into all the conversations of the Boao forum, nicknamed the Davos of Asia, which is held these days on the tropical island of Hainan (southern China). The drift of United States foreign and commercial policy with Donald Trump, with a marked aggressive and unpredictable tone, has given its main geopolitical rival the opportunity to project itself as a more stable partner and committed to globalization and multilateralism. It is an idea that Beijing has been repeating for years, but that, in a context of uncertainty and global turbulence, has become its best seduction letter. «We must safeguard the free trade system and oppose with determination to commercial and investment protectionism,» the Chinese Vice Prime Minister Ding Xuexiang said Thursday, hours after Trump announced new tariffs, this time 25% to all imported light cars and vehicles, which will enter into force on April 3. Boao – which this year has brought together 2,000 delegates from 60 nations – that his country «has confidence» that he will achieve his economic objectives and that «will contribute to global development.» Although Chinese leaders have maintained their growth objective «around 5%» for this year, many experts believe it is an ambitious goal, given the pressure on exports, the weak demand and the difficulties that its real estate market is going through. «If the world returns to the law of the jungle, it will be a step back in history,» the Prime Minister, Li Qiang, emphasized on Sunday. He spoke in another high -level symposium, the Chinese Development Forum, held this Sunday in Beijing. From there he assured that China is prepared for possible new “shocks”: this is, what is to come from Washington.The Vice Prime Chinese Minister Ding Xuexiang speaks at the opening ceremony of the annual Boao Forum Conference for Asia in Boao (China), this Thursday. China Daily (Via Reuters) «We will promote more proactive and effective macroeconomic policies to expand internal demand and stabilize foreign trade and investments,» Ding stressed. «We give a sincere welcome to companies around the world to invest in China,» he said. His words follow a line similar to those pronounced by Prime Minister Li in the opening of the Chinese Development Forum, held on Sunday and Monday in Beijing and which was attended by high executives of 80 multinationals, from Tim Cook (Apple) to Ola Kallenius (Mercedes). «Uncertainty is never good for business, and the world is completely globalized. Supply chains connect us, and we value the stability we have here in China,» said this newspaper Oliver Zipese, executive director of BMW. «We appreciate a government that supports that connectivity and globalization, because only then can growth and safety be guaranteed,» he added.
Wink to foreign investment
In his Sunday speech, the Chinese Premier made multiple winks to foreign investors, to which he offered his huge consumer market. He also presented China as a «responsible nation,» warned the rupture of global supply chains, and censored suppression and containment between countries, in reference to the United States, which it avoided directing directly. Trump has already decreed 20% tariff Standy of taxes since he returned to the White House. China has responded with remote -direct rates to specific sectors and on multiple fronts, but with a limited reach. «The powers should set an example about the empire of the law. And threats or extortion go against the law,» said the Chinese vice chancellor Chen Xiaodong in Boao. For his part, Wang Huiyao, exassor of the Chinese government and today at the head of the center for China and globalization, criticized during the Development Forum “the way he is acting” Trump. «Everything is really altering. It's like a kind of cultural revolution,» he told this newspaper. Political activity in the People's Republic has become frantic in recent weeks. After the so -called two sessions, in which the Government set the economic plan by 2025, the Asian giant has organized these two international symposia to present themselves as a «fair and sensible» partner and attract more investment to its weakened economy. In addition, on Friday, the commercial head of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, will meet in Beijing with his Chinese counter EU Objective is to achieve a “fair agreement” instead of “unjustified tariffs”, the Trump administration hit a day later to the community block with new protectionist measures. That is why, many voices in Boao believe that China and Europe are destined to begin to be understood. «Europe needs a more autonomous, sensible and independent foreign policy. And diplomacy, speaking with the opposite, reasoning and finding solutions. West must begin to negotiate with China and initiate real diplomacy,» he claims in a conversation with journalists the American economist Jeffrey Sachs. «I think that Europe is trying to approach other powers and regions. The world is becoming more multipolar, and I think that Europe is more willing to approach China and that the conversation will be deeper,» responds to this newspaper Guy Ryder, head of UN Social Policies. Although they affirm that there is a willingness to deepen the bilateral relationship – they insist that it should not be measured based on what happens with ties with the United States – they emphasize that the situation of commercial imbalance is unsustainable and that China must offer something in return.
