BEIJING: Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng stepped up a defense of his country’s economic track record, dangling the prospect of greater access to its domestic market to reduce imbalances in trade.
He, the nation’s economic czar and top trade negotiator, used an address to international business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday to try to allay fears over the deluge of exports from the world’s biggest manufacturing nation.
China, which ran a record US$1.2 trillion trade surplus last year, sees itself as a commercial “partner, not a rival for other countries,” He said.
“We never seek a trade surplus,” the vice-premier said. “On top of being the world’s factory, we hope to be the world’s market too.”
The outreach by He sought to draw a sharp contrast to new threats from Donald Trump, who earlier warned President Emmanuel Macron of crushing tariffs on French wine for rejecting an invitation to back his latest peace initiative.
Speaking in Davos, He presented China as an advocate of cooperation, free trade and multilateralism, reiterating many of Beijing’s frequent talking points.
“The world must not return to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak,” he said. “China’s development presents an opportunity, not a threat to the world economy.”
The vice-premier was among key officials representing China in talks to defuse tensions with the United States last year after the tariff war started by Trump.
The discussions with the US team led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer culminated in a truce last October after five rounds of negotiations.
Bessent, who held an informal meeting on Monday with He in Davos, said China has made good on an agreement to buy US soybeans and the two nations are looking forward to 25 million tonnes getting purchased in the coming year.
But he suggested the Chinese should “buy a little more” because Trump always raises that subject in meetings with President Xi Jinping.
Bessent also said that rare earth magnets, which were a key sticking point in the 2025 trade negotiations – and a key point of leverage for Beijing – have been “flowing as expected” with a fulfillment rate that’s “in the 90s, which I think is quite satisfactory”.
While the one-year deal has eased tensions between the world’s biggest economies, Trump’s recent actions in countries allied with China, such as Venezuela and Iran, have threatened to test that fragile peace.
Still, so far the ceasefire is holding. Xi and Trump are slated to meet four times this year, with an April summit likely making the US leader the fifth head of a Group of Seven country to visit China in half a year.
Greer told reporters on Tuesday in Davos that another potential set of trade negotiations with China was possible ahead of Trump’s planned meeting in April with Xi.
He suggested the next round could move past highly sensitive issues such as technology competition and China’s supply of the rare earth magnets that are vital to global industrial supply chains.
Asked if the current truce between the United States and China meant the Trump administration would hold off on taking any competitive actions against China, Greer said: “China policy is not on hold.”
In his Davos remarks, He called for China and the United States to seize on opportunities to cooperate that benefit both sides.
In a veiled reference to some tech restrictions on Beijing, he said China is often looking to buy foreign goods but “others don’t want to sell”.
“Trade issues often become security hurdles,” he said. — Bloomberg
