China has warned that there are no winners in trade and tariff wars, calling for greater cooperation and dialogue in the global economy. Speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng urged countries to work together rather than turn inward or pursue self-isolation.
00:03Beyond driving up costs for production and trade,
00:06they fragment the world economy
00:09and disrupt the global distribution of resources.
00:12We never seek trade surplus.
00:14On top of being the world's factory,
00:16we hope to be the world's market too.
00:19However, in many cases,
00:22when China wants to buy,
00:24others don't want to sell.
00:27Trade issues often become security hurdles.
00:31We will give full play to our supersized market,
00:36step up our efforts to expand import
00:39and strengthen industrial cooperation
00:41so that countries can better share in China's opportunities.
00:44Facts have demonstrated once again
00:47that China and the United States
00:49will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,
00:53and that they should and can help each other succeed
00:57and prosper together.
00:59As we speak, transformation not seen in a century
01:04is accelerating across the world.
01:06Rising unilateralism and protection,
01:08compounded by the impacts of regional conflicts
01:11and geopolitics,
01:12are bringing new changes to the global economic and trade order.
01:16In particular, since last year,
01:18tariff and trade wars have inflicted significant shocks
01:22on the world economy
01:23and opposed serious challenges
01:25to multilateralism and free trade.
01:28In response to the changes of the world,
01:31of our times and in the dynamics,
01:33President Xi has put forward
01:35the Global Development Initiative,
01:37the Global Security Initiative,
01:39the Global Civilization Initiative,
01:41and last year,
01:43the Global Governance Initiative,
01:46pulling consensus and strength for solidarity
01:49and cooperation over division and confrontation,
01:52and providing China's solution
01:56to the common problems of the world.
01:58In light of the current situation,
02:00I wish to share a few observations.
02:02First, we should firmly support free trade
02:05and jointly promote a universally beneficial
02:08and inclusive economic globalization.
02:11Economic globalization,
02:13driven by international specialization,
02:15collaboration,
02:17complementary strengths,
02:18and the pursuit of win-win,
02:20is a prevailing trend of history.
02:22It has benefited many countries,
02:23including China,
02:24and enabled them to achieve fast development.
02:27On the contrary,
02:29tariff and trade wars have no winners.
02:32Beyond driving up costs for production and trade,
02:35they fragment the world economy
02:38and disrupt the global distribution of resources.
02:41WTO data shows that the share of global trade
02:45under most favored nation terms
02:47has dropped from 80% at the beginning of last year
02:52to 72%.
02:54The IMF estimates that economic fragmentation
02:57can reduce global economic output by about 7%.
03:01That is in no country's interest.
03:04While economic globalization is not perfect
03:09and may cause some problems,
03:11we cannot completely reject it
03:21and retreat to self-imposed isolation.
03:24The right approach should be,
03:27and can only be,
03:28to find solutions together through dialogue
03:31and steer economic globalization in the correct direction.
03:37China advocates a universally beneficial
03:40and inclusive economic globalization.
03:43We are committed to building bridges, not walls.
03:47We will firmly support trade and investment liberalization
03:51and facilitation,
03:52and continue to share development opportunities with the world.
03:56We will work with all parties to create a bright future of prosperity and development,
04:02where every country and every community shares the dividends of development.
04:06Second, we should firmly safeguard multilateralism
04:09and make the international economic and trade order more just and equitable.
04:13The multilateral trading system now faces the most serious challenges in years.
04:20The unilateral acts and trade deals of certain countries clearly violate the fundamental principles and rules of the WTO,
04:28and severely impact the global economic and trade order.
04:32As President Xi Jinping noted,
04:34at difficult times we must uphold our original commitment to peaceful coexistence
04:40and strengthen our confidence in win-win cooperation.
04:44Multilateralism is the right way to keep the international order stable
04:48and promote humanity's development and progress.
04:51The rules must apply equally to everyone.
04:54A handful of countries should not enjoy privileges based on their strengths,
05:00and the world must not return to the law of the jungle where the strong bully the weak.
05:06Every country is entitled to defend its legitimate rights and interests.
05:12Since joining the WTO, China has strictly followed the organization's rules,
05:17earnestly fulfilled its commitments and taken voluntary steps to contribute more.
05:22Last year, it solemnly announced that it will not seek new, special and differential treatment
05:29in current and future negotiations at the WTO.
05:33China will continue to firmly uphold the WTO-centred, rules-based multilateral trading system
05:38and firmly support the reforms of multilateral institutions, including the WTO and the IMF,
05:45with a view to enhancing the authority, effectiveness and inclusiveness of the multilateral trading system
05:52and increasing the representation of the global south and developing countries.
05:57China is glad to see countries reaching trade agreements that are mutually beneficial,
06:03but these agreements should comply with WTO rules and not undermine the interests of third parties.
06:09Third, we should pursue win-win cooperation, work together to make the pie bigger, and jointly resolve development issues.
06:19Currently, world economic growth is lacking momentum.
06:23The IMF forecasts global growth of 3.1% for 2026, which is below the pre-COVID average of 3.7%.
06:35What is more worrying is that unfairness continues to grow and sustainable development is facing severe challenges.
06:45According to a UN report, two-thirds of the sustainable development goals will not be met by 2030.
06:57The pursuit of development should not be a you-lose-I-win-zero-sum game.
07:03Rather, every party should play its part and get its fair share.
07:08Making the pie bigger together is more important than fighting for the pie,
07:13and solving problems together is more effective than blaming each other.
07:19China is committed to fostering common prosperity with its trading partners through its own development,
07:29and making the pie bigger for global economy and trade.
07:33We never seek trade surplus.
07:35On top of being the world's factory, we hope to be the world's market, too.
07:40However, in many cases, when China wants to buy, others don't want to sell.
07:48Trade issues often become security hurdles.
07:52On the other hand, services now account for two-thirds of global GDP.
07:59China has recorded a large deficit in its services trade over the long term,
08:06but it never feels being taken advantage of.
08:10We will give full play to our supersized market,
08:14step up our efforts to expand import and strengthen industrial cooperation
08:19so that countries can better share in China's opportunities.
08:23Fourth, we should uphold mutual respect and equal-footed consultation,
08:29and manage differences and solve problems through dialogue.
08:35Last year, economic and trade relations between China and the United States went through some ups and downs.
08:46Guided by the common understandings of the two presidents,
08:49from their meeting in Busan and for phone calls,
08:51Chinese and U.S. teams had five rounds of consultation and economic trade issues.
08:57Following the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation,
09:02they properly handled some outstanding issues and kept the economic and trade relationship generally stable.
09:10Facts have demonstrated once again that China and the United States will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,
09:19and that they should and can help each other succeed and prosper together.
09:24The trade talks also showed that as long as the two sides engage in equal-footed consultation and work in the same direction,
09:38there will always be more solutions than problems.
09:41To be frank, it's normal for countries with different social systems, stages of development, histories and cultures to encounter divergences and frictions as they develop and interact.
09:57But sometimes these are merely misunderstandings.
10:01The key is to uphold the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit,
10:06build trust through dialogue and resolve disputes through consultation.
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