GYEONGJU, South Korea – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for safeguarding the multilateral trading system at a regional economic summit in South Korea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, taking an apparent swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist “America First” agenda.
In his speech to the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit that opened in Gyeongju, Xi said, “We must practice true multilateralism, and enhance the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core,” referring to the World Trade Organization.
The Chinese leader also stressed the need to build an open regional economic environment through free trade agreements as well as ensure “stable and smooth” industrial and supply chains.
“China’s door to the world will not close, it will only open wider and wider,” Xi said.
His speech came a day after Xi agreed with Trump on a one-year trade truce to lower tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Trump, who returned home after his talks with Xi in Busan, skipped the APEC summit.
BY: The Times Union
