Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “an open world economy” in an address to the World Economic Forum, saying that excellence rather than “wrestling” should be driving global prosperity.
In a virtual gathering instead of the annual in-person meetings at the Switzerland ski resort of Davos, Mr Xi urged nations to remove all barriers to trade.
“We should build an open world economy … discard discriminatory and exclusionary standards, rules and systems, and take down barriers to trade, investment and technological exchanges,” Mr Xi said in a 25-minute speech.
“We should advocate fair competition, like competing with each other for excellence in a racing field, not beating each other on a wrestling arena.
“To engage in cliques, a new Cold War, exclusion, threats and intimidation against others, to warn of decoupling, cutting off supplies, sanctions at every turn … can only drive the world to division and even conflict.
“A divided world cannot tackle the common challenges facing humanity, and confrontation will lead humanity to a dead end.”
“Humanity has only earth and one future … fighting the pandemic is the most urgent task facing the international community,” Mr Xi said.
“In particular, we should strengthen cooperation in vaccine research and development, production and distribution, so that vaccines can truly become a public good that are accessible and affordable to people in all countries.”
