China’s Vice Premier Liu He said in a conference in Hamburg that “protectionist and unilateral approaches do not offer solutions to problems on trade”. And, “on the contrary, they will only bring about more economic uncertainty to the world”. He added that “The history of economic development has proven time and again that raising tariffs will only lead to economic recession and no one ever emerged as a winner from a trade war. Our approach therefore is to seek a negotiated solution to the problems we have on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”
At the same event, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager urged China to join efforts in reforming the WTO. She said “We need to do more, we need to make it happen, the reform of the WTO”. And, “Not just by discussing the easier issues, but making real progress on bringing rules up to date so global trade is fair as well as free.”
