STANDING firm as a pillar, China was the first country to decisively counter the United States’ unilateral tariff impositions, and eventually compelled the Donald Trump administration to adjust its tariff policies, Deputy Director of Asian Affairs in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Liiang Jianjun articulated.
Liiang was speaking at press briefing for both local and international journalists in Beijing this week on China’s diplomacy and the actions it has taken in addressing issues of global significance and interest.
Liiang said China pledged to strengthen supply chain cooperation and has emphasized that tariff wars have no winners, a stand that is in a sharp contrast to the US’s economic bullying.
“This [stand] positioned China as a champion of free trade, defender of developing countries’ interests, and a leader in regional cooperation,” he added.
Liiang said this stand has become deeply ingrained, showing China as a trustworthy, stable, and long-term partner in the region and sent a reassuring signal amid uncertainty.
“China speaks and acts accordingly. Faced with the U.S. unilateral tariff impositions, China stood firm as a pillar, was the first to counter decisively, and compelled the U.S. to adjust its tariff policies.”
Liiang said recently, high-level China-US economic and trade contacts made substantive progress, with both sides agreeing to establish a China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, with all measures being reciprocal.
“The U.S. has removed tariffs on 91% of Chinese goods; China reciprocated. The U.S. suspended a 24% reciprocal tariff, and China did the same. This marked an important step toward resolving differences through equal dialogue and negotiation, meeting the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serving their interests and the common interests of the world.”
He said the international community and global markets, including neighboring countries, have welcomed this and praised China for not only defending its rights, but also securing equal voice for other developing countries.
“Of course, China never harbors illusions about the U.S. and does not expect one negotiation to resolve all issues. The new U.S. administration is unpredictable and volatile, as many journalists here understand well.
“Therefore, we will continue to observe and respond prudently, with patience, determination, ample resources, and means, never wavering on fundamental principles or retreating on core interests,” Liang added.
Liang said, “historically, the U.S. once raised tariffs sharply on foreign products through the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, triggering a global trade war, and ultimately had to change course.
“In reality, as one European leader told us, the U.S. is a heavyweight that we respect and sometimes fear, but U.S. foreign trade accounts for only 13% of global trade. Starting a tariff war isolates itself from the world, while the other 87% continues. Without the U.S., the world still turns, the sun still rises from the East,” he said.
Liang said China, with its socialist market economy system, vast market demand and the world’s most complete industrial supply system, has full confidence that when others close their doors to it, it will not only survive, but thrive.
He said China has suffered the humiliation of forced opening in the past, and it deeply understands that openness brings prosperity, while closure leads to decline.
“Therefore, at all times, we will unswervingly manage our own affairs well and firmly promote high-level opening-up. Our door to openness will only open wider and wider,” Liiang added.
Liiang said last year, China granted all least developed countries with diplomatic relations with China zero tariff treatment on 100 per cent of tariff lines.
He said China is the first major developing country and one of the world’s major economies to implement this measure.
Liiang said China is also the only major country in the world that holds an import expo welcoming products from around the globe to enter China, adding that China’s visa-free travel network continues to expand.
He said besides continuous growth in Southeast Asia, other countries are also joining.
“Through our proactive and unilateral opening-up policies, “China Shopping” has become increasingly popular. In many countries, especially neighboring ones, a new routine has emerged: on Friday after work, people can travel to China to recharge, shop, and sightsee, then return on Monday refreshed to resume work.
“This has become a new normal. In the first quarter, the number of foreigners entering and exiting China reached 17.437 million, an increase of 33.4% year-on-year,” Liiang said.
By DELI-SHARON OSO
In Beijing, China
