In the news: President Xi promotes global trade at Davos, U.S. companies feel more unwelcome in China and the PBOC looks into bitcoin

President Xi defends globalization at WEF

President Xi Jinping launched a robust defense of globalization and free trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday. Countries should refrain from pursuing their own interests at the expense of others, he said, and that there would be no winner in case of a trade war, pledging that China would not seek to benefit from renminbi devaluation or a currency war. He added that global governance systems should be overhauled from their outdated Western-centric order to a mechanism that meets the requirements of emerging markets and is able to resolve problems such as frequent volatility and build-up of asset bubbles. After a market-shattering Brexit vote and politically-dividing Trump election in 2016, China, as the world's second-largest economy, appears to have taken the stage to try and reassure the international community that it is making efforts to maintain stability and promote open investment and trade. And with Trump's anti-China campaign and post-victory Twitter rants, Xi seemed to hint that the President-elect should focus on more profound matters. He even hailed the Paris climate change accord—which Trump threatened to abandon— as “a hard-won agreement” that “all signatories should stick to”. That said, the renminbi weakened 6.5% in 2016, the most in more than 20 years, as China was seen guiding its exchange rate lower to help exports. So while Xi talks gentility, it may not fly with Trump, who has threatened to brand Beijing a currency manipulator and slap 45% tariffs on imports from China.

More from CLP: