Chinese President Xi Jinping called for joint effort in fighting protectionism at a BRICS summit in South Africa today. He told BRICS leaders that “we must work together … to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading regime; promote trade and investment, globalization and facilitation; and reject protectionism outright.”
But Xi should be reminded that EU and US have agreed on a joint position. That is, both EU and US agreed to join forces against “unfair global trade practices”. And specifically, they the practices include “intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, industrial subsidies, distortions created by state owned enterprises, and overcapacity.” They clearly target China and it’s time for Xi to step up reforms.
