Xi Jinping portrays China as a rock of stability

DELEGATES at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos often treat politicians as rock stars. But the fawning reception given to China's leader, Xi Jinping, on January 17th was extraordinary. He was the first Chinese president to attend the annual gathering of the world's business and political elite. Even an overflow room was packed when he delivered, in his usual dour manner, a speech laced with literary references'rendered through bulky headsets into equally monotone translations. Mr Xi said little that was new, but the audience lapped it up anyway. Here, at a time of global uncertainty and anxiety for capitalists, was the world's most powerful communist presenting himself as a champion of globalisation and open markets.Mr Xi (pictured, next to a panda ice-sculpture) did not mention Donald Trump by name, nor even America, but his message was clear. 'No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war,' he said, in a swipe at Mr Trump who has threatened, among other mercantilist acts, to slap heavy tariffs on Chinese goods. Mr Xi likened protectionism to 'locking oneself in a dark room', a phrase that delegates repeated with...Continue reading
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