Chinese President Xi Jinping sends warning over rival Asia-Pacific trade pacts
Xi also uses Apec to assure existing and potential investors that the door to the Chinese market will always remain open
President Xi Jinping warned on Wednesday that rival trade pacts in the Asia-Pacific region might cause “fragmentation”.
He also pledged to further lift restrictions on foreign investment in China.
Speaking to business leaders at an Apec CEO summit in Manila, Xi urged member nations to accelerate the establishment of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) as many other economic deals were taking shape in the region.
“Currently, many new free-trade arrangements keep emerging. It triggers various concerns about fragmentation [of the regional economy],” he said.
Read more: It’s the geopolitics, stupid: US-led TPP trade pact less about boosting economies than about containing China’s rise
Xi did not name the new arrangements. But FTAAP is widely seen as a move by Beijing to counter the influence of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which includes Japan, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia, and represents 40 per cent of global gross domestic product.
US President Barack Obama met leaders from the other TPP members at the Sofitel hotel in Manila, where he is staying, to push for a second round of negotiations.
Xi told the business executives at the summit: “We should strive for cooperation and a win-win [trade arrangement], fight against protectionism and push for fair competition.”
Xi also assured existing and potential investors that the door to the mainland Chinese market would always remain open.
“I’d like to reiterate here China will never change its policy to make use of foreign investment, to protect foreign investors, and to offer better services for them,” he said. “We will push for foreign investment reform and lift restrictions.
“We recorded some ups and downs in the quarterly economic indicators, but it is within a reasonable interval.”
It is the Chinese president’s first visit to the Philippines since he took office and comes amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing and Manila have conflicting territorial claims.
Later Xi walked down a long red carpet towards a conference room for a panel discussion, with Philippine President Benigno Aquino and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet walking beside him. But Aquino turned instead to talk with Bachelet, leaving Xi alone with his translator.
During a group photo session, Xi shook hands with Aquino but remained expressionless while the cameras flashed.
Aquino, initially standing next to Xi, switched his position in the group photo with his sister Ballsy Aquino-Cruz.
Xi and Obama had a brief exchange that was caught by the media although there was no word on what they discussed.
