China's Premier Li Qiang delivers speech during an opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai Guesthouse in Beijing Sunday, March 23, 2025. (Adek Berry/Pool Photo via AP)
THE country’s number two leader told a gathering of business executives in Beijing that the country would pursue economic globalisation despite “fragmentation”, a thinly veiled reference to trade turmoil sparked by US President Donald Trump.
The China Development Forum convenes after weeks that have seen Trump slap multiple rounds of tariffs on goods from the country, threatening a vital lifeline as economic challenges persist.
