China President Xi Jinping defends globalisation, the engine of the economy

China's President, Xi Jinping, says that economic globalization has powered worldwide growth and should not be blamed for the world's problems.

In an attack on the anti-globalization rhetoric, Xi told a packed audience at the World Economic Forum at Davos on Tuesday: "It is true that economic globalization created new problems but this is no justification to write off economic globalization altogether", and he added that “Pursing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room".

He stressed the challenges as well of the benefits of economic globalisation and that the process needed to be made more “invigorated, inclusive and sustainable”.

President Xi's 50-minute long speech was the first address given at Davos by a Chinese leader, and marks the country's continually growing presence on the world stage. 

He used it to insist that China is open to business to the whole world and said that his country was "not jealous of others' success" or of those who had benefitted from globalisation. 

Xi's keynote address kicked off four days of networking and partying by the global elite in the Swiss ski resort, in a week that climaxes as Trump takes office after a campaign that blamed China and globalisation for the loss of millions of US factory jobs.

Trump has repeatedly accused China of carrying out trade policies that have led to massive US job losses. He has threatened to slap tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese goods.

The Republican property tycoon's signal pledge is to "Make American Great Again" but Xi warned: "No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war."

WEF founder Klaus Schwab said President Xi's presence was a sign of the shift from a uni-polar world dominated by the United States to a more multi-polar system in which rising powers like China will have to step up and play a bigger role. 
"We can hope that China in this new world will assume a responsive and responsible leadership role," Mr Schwab said. "So in some ways it is very symbolic to have the president of China here."