Xi to be first Chinese president to join Davos World Economic Forum

Reuters: President Xi Jinping this month will become the first Chinese head of state to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, as the foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed his widely-expected attendance at the annual meeting in the Swiss Alps.

This year’s forum is expected to be dominated by debate over public anger with globalisation and the coming presidency of Donald Trump, who won the White House in part with promises to pull the United States out of international trade deals and hike tariffs against China and Mexico.

Xi will take centre stage at the gathering of political leaders, CEOs and celebrities which runs from 17-20 January, as China presents itself as a champion of globalisation. The president will travel to Switzerland from 15-18 January for a state visit and to attend the Davos meeting, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing. He will also visit the United Nations offices in Geneva, and the offices of the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee, Lu said. He did not give further details about the trip. Other global leaders, including WEF regular German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will not attend the forum.

Trump takes office on 20 January just as the WEF meeting closes, but some members of his team are expected to travel to Davos.

Xi led a forum of Asia-Pacific leaders in Peru in November in vowing to fight protectionism, just days after Trump won the U.S. election having pledged to pull out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.

Foreign businesses in China, however, have long complained about a lack of market access and protectionist Chinese policies, including a Made in China 2025 plan, which calls for a progressive increase in domestic components in sectors such as advanced information technology and robotics.

China is confident economy grew 6.7% in 2016

Reuters: China is confident to have reached an economic growth of 6.7% in 2016, within a targeted range set earlier in the year, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said on Sunday.

China’s economy expanded at a steady 6.7% in the first three quarters last year, and Zhu said he was confident the growth rate would have reached the same level or more in the fourth quarter of 2016. Zhu’s remarks were made at a forum held by Tsinghua University in Beijing.

China, which had been aiming for a 6.5-7% economic growth for 2016, boosted government spending, saw a housing rally and record high levels of bank lending last year, which, however, also led to an explosive increase in debt.

Many analysts believe growth was lower than official data suggests, but acknowledge that the construction boom significantly underpinned the economy.

A government-run think tank said earlier this month that China’s economic growth could slow to 6.5% in 2017 from about 6.7% in 2016.

Zhu also said the global economy would face some uncertainty this year amid worries about U.S. policy changes after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

During his campaign, Trump threatened to declare Beijing a currency manipulator and levy a 45% punitive tax on all Chinese goods to reduce a massive U.S. trade deficit with China.

China seeks foreign investment in five-year trade plan

Reuters: China’s commerce ministry reiterated its determination to lure foreign investment in manufacturing and its backing for domestic companies going overseas in a foreign trade plan for the five years to 2020 published on Monday.

The plan called for China to play a greater role in setting the rules of global trade, while moving the focus to improving the structure and quality of its foreign trade.It did not give firm targets for growth in imports and exports, however, following a practice started last year after China missed its foreign trade targets in 2014 and 2015.

China’s 2016 exports were down 7.5% in dollar terms for the period from Jan to Nov, while imports had fallen 6.2%, putting foreign trade on pace to contract for the second year in a row.