Why Davos is talking about the fight between two absentees

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The two most powerful men in the world are not in Davos this year, but they remain impossible to escape.

In a sweeping speech at the World Economic Forum two years ago, President Xi Jinping argued that China was free trade's greatest champion. Any attempt to stop the flow of capital, technology, goods, industries or people between economies "is simply not possible," he said.