HONOLULU (Reuters) – President Hu Jintao sought to soothe the nerves of foreign businesses over market conditions in China yesterday and vowed to boost his country’s global role amid growing uncertainty and trade protectionism.
“The new mechanism for global economic governance should reflect the changes in the world economic landscape,” Hu told executives at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Honolulu.
“It should observe the principle of mutual respect and collective decision-making and increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries,” he said, urging a more “balanced partnership” for development and governance.
Hu and US President Barack Obama, who spoke at the same forum shortly after the Chinese leader, have not seen eye to eye on how to address pan-Pacific trade among the 21 APEC members during the annual summit.
Relations between Washington and Beijing are beset by disagreements over China’s trade and currency practices, US arms sales to Taiwan, China’s military buildup in the Pacific and China’s human rights record.
China has been reluctant to sign trade deals that would subject it to US-led efforts to further open its economy to foreign players because that would put pressure on its state-owned enterprises.
The differing views were captured on Friday in a politely pointed exchange between American and Chinese trade officials, when the US trade representative refuted China’s claim that it had not been invited to join a regional free-trade pact being negotiated by at least nine countries.
