Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the opening ceremony of the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai November 5, 2019. — Reuters pic
Xi addressed an audience including French President Emmanuel Macron at the import exhibition, staged annually by China to show its willingness to free up its vast domestic markets in the face of criticism that they are too cosseted by Beijing. Xi’s speech was light on specifics, however, and thus unlikely to mollify foreign critics who accuse China of a range of protectionist measures and failing to deliver on reform promises.
It was a stark contrast to his keynote last year at the height of the confrontation, when Xi took a swipe at the Trump administration, decrying “protectionism”, “isolationism” and “the law of the jungle”, while not specifically naming the United States.