Xi speech shows China willing to deal, but not with a gun to its head
2018-04-11 09:49:56 source：The Hill
April 10, 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at Boao assuaged investors’ concerns about a potential trade war — at least temporarily. The overt message was that China will continue to gradually open up on its own terms, and the implicit message was that American firms may lose out on the benefits if President Trump pursues the trade war.
The speech was short on specifics. Xi did say that China would liberalize restrictions on investment in the auto sector by the end of the year, and the deadline was new. He reiterated general pledges to open up financial services, strengthen intellectual property rights protection and improve the investment climate in order to attract more foreign investment.
Xi did not directly mention the trade dispute with the U.S. and did not say anything that is likely to escalate trade tension with the U.S., which is probably why markets reacted well. He made some indirect swipes at the U.S. when he said that we should put aside “Cold War mentality” and not view trade as a “zero-sum game.”
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