China and EU vow to defend multilateral trading system
Anxiety over the economic fallout is cutting deep in financial markets, with China’s yuan sliding to a six-month low
Beijing — China and the European Union vowed to oppose trade protectionism in an apparent rebuke to the US, saying unilateral actions risked pushing the world into a recession. Vice-Premier Liu He — President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser — said that China and the EU had agreed to defend the multilateral trading system, following talks Monday in Beijing. The comments, made at a press briefing with European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, come as both sides prepare to face off against President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. "Unilateralism is on the rise and trade tensions have appeared in major economies," Liu said. "China and the EU firmly oppose trade unilateralism and protectionism and think these actions may bring recession and turbulence to the global economy." Both China and the EU are coming under pressure from Trump, as the US president seeks to remake a global trading system that he sees as rigged against the world’s largest economy. After months of rhetoric a...
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