This archive report was first published on 5 November 2019.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a significant pledge to open up China's vast domestic markets to the world, in a bid to address criticism that Beijing's markets are too cosseted.
Speaking at the China Import and Export Fair in Shanghai on November 5, 2019, Xi addressed an audience including French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that the world community must 'continue to knock down walls instead of building walls, resolutely oppose protectionism and unilateralism, (and) continuously reduce trade barriers.'
However, Xi's speech was light on specifics, and thus unlikely to mollify foreign critics who accuse China of a range of protectionist measures and failing to deliver on reform promises.
China and the US are currently working to lock in a partial trade deal announced last month, and Xi steered clear of the tariff war in his remarks, in a stark contrast to his keynote last year at the height of the confrontation.
Xi also expressed hope that a China-backed proposed regional trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), could be signed soon, despite being dealt a blow by India's withdrawal from the agreement.
At a summit in Bangkok, India expressed concerns that its economy would be flooded by cheap Made-in-China goods as a result of the RCEP.
