China Premier Li Qiang, Beijing’s No. 2 official, pledged to open up the world’s second largest economy to “quality products from all over the world” as he vowed to deepen economic ties with both Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“We need to enable domestic and international circulations … so that companies across the world, including those from ASEAN and the GCC countries, can fully share [in] China’s development,” Li told delegates at Fortune’s ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Forum, held in Kuala Lumpur on May 27. “China stands ready to work with ASEAN and GCC countries to embrace greater openness and cooperation.”
Li was in Malaysia’s capital to join a summit between leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in the first-ever event involving leaders from all three economic regions. The trilateral summit was held alongside the annual ASEAN Summit, and a bilateral meeting between Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
“Economic globalization is suffering heavy blows never seen before. The values we pursue all along, such as peace, development, and win-win cooperation, are severely challenged,” Li said Wednesday. “Properly addressing these issues will bring significant opportunities for the countries of our three sides.”
Yet investors and economists are hopeful that trade headwinds might persuade Beijing to finally unleash long-promised stimulus measures.
On Wednesday, Li said that Beijing had pursued more “proactive” policies to bolster the market. “They will provide a strong underpinning for the expansion of aggregate demand of the market.” He added that Beijing will “continue to strengthen contra-cyclical adjustment” in future policy.
Still, some Southeast Asian countries are wary of a flood of cheap Chinese exports, now potentially barred from entry into the U.S. Left unchecked, that could lead to a “tariff cascade,” where countries impose trade barriers to block redirected exports.
On Wednesday, Li was optimistic that there was room to increase trade between the three different regions. Despite accounting for a quarter of world population and global economic output, Li said that the three economies only accounted for 5.4% of global trade.
“We have great potential to be further tapped into,” he said. “This is leverage we can use in the future.”
