China's Xi announces plans to 'open' China, including lowering tariffs on imported autos - CNBC News

China's Xi announces plans to 'open' China, including lowering tariffs on imported autos
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday.
He discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy, including "significantly" lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies.
Everett Rosenfeld | Huileng Tan
Published April 9, 2018
CNBC.com
 President Xi Jinping vows a 'new phase' of opening China's economy President Xi Jinping vows 'further opening' of China's economy 

Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy during a Tuesday address.

Those measures included "significantly" lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies.

Xi's address — from the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit that's been dubbed the "Asian Davos" — comes amid escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. as the world's two largest economies take turns announcing punitive trade measures against each other.

In his speech, Xi said China will take the initiative to expand imports this year and "work hard" to import products that are required by the population.

"China does not seek trade surplus. We have a genuine desire to increase imports and achieve greater balance of international payments under the current account," Xi said, according to a translation of the speech.

Beyond that, he described China as a country upon which other nations had imposed unfair trade penalties: "We hope developed countries will stop imposing restrictions on normal and reasonable trade of high-tech products and relax export controls on such trade with China," he said, not naming any specific country.

In his speech, the Chinese president sold a vision of China as a benevolent leader of the global economy, emphasizing that open systems are the best course of action for the world.

"We must refrain from seeking dominance and reject the zero-sum game, we must refrain from 'beggar thy neighbor' and reject power politics or hegemony while the strong bully the weak," Xi said.

Instead, he said, countries should "stay committed to openness, connectivity and mutual benefits, build an open global economy, and reinforce cooperation within the G-20, APEC and other multilateral frameworks. We should promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, support the multilateral trading system."

"This way, we will make economic globalization, more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all," he added.

China's President Xi Jinping waves to delegates as he is elected to a second five-year term during the fifth plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2018.

China's President Xi Jinping waves to delegates as he is elected to a second five-year term during the fifth plenary session of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2018.
China will continue opening up even further to the rest of the globe, he said throughout the speech. He discussed some of the ways the country plans to open further.

One of those is China pushing the state intellectual property office this year to step up law enforcement of relevant laws, Xi said.

"We encourage normal technological exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises and protect the lawful [intellectual property] owned by foreign enterprises in China," he said.

President Donald Trump's administration is taking Beijing to task over China's large trade deficit with the U.S., which Washington says is in part due to unfair trade practices.

Last week, Trump asked U.S. trade officials to consider another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. China's commerce ministry, for its part, said it would "fight back with a major response" if provoked.

Earlier in the year, the U.S. imposed tariffs on imported solar panels, as well as steel and aluminum imports.

China, in turn, implemented additional tariffs on 128 U.S. products, including fruit and pork, in response to the Trump administration's decision to impose duties on steel and aluminum. It also announced extra tariffs on 106 U.S. products last week, although no start date was given for those measures.

Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that China will remove trade barriers as that was the "right thing to do." The president also expressed optimism that the countries would strike a deal on intellectual property.

Belt and Road
In his Tuesday speech, Xi downplayed any geopolitical ambitions China may have beyond its shores regarding the Belt and Road Initiative — an infrastructure and investment program widely seen as an attempt by China to construct a massive, multi-national zone of economic and political influence that has Beijing at its center.

While the project may be initiated by China, the opportunities and outcomes will benefit the world, said Xi.

"China has no geopolitical calculations, seeks no exclusionary blocs and imposes no business deals on others," the Chinese president added.

—CNBC's Cheang Ming contributed to this report.