“EXTREME SCENARIO”
China achieved record exports last year, providing a key source of economic activity as domestic challenges in the property sector and deflationary pressure persisted.
But the global trading system is now under great pressure, with Trump having hit most trading partners with 10 per cent tariffs since reclaiming office in January.
China has received the worst of Trump’s trade blitz, with many of its products now facing a 145 per cent tariff. Beijing has responded with new 125 per cent tariffs of its own on US goods.
There have been competing claims in recent days about potential trade talks that could see an easing of the sky-high tariffs that have unleashed chaos on the global economy.
A spokesman for Beijing’s commerce ministry said Thursday that “there are currently no economic and trade negotiations between China and the United States”.
But hours later, asked about the state of negotiations with Beijing, Trump maintained: “We’ve been meeting with China”.
Meanwhile, Chinese financial news outlet Caijing reported on Friday that Beijing was considering the exemption of certain US semiconductor products from recent additional tariffs, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Beijing’s commerce ministry did not immediately respond to an AFP request to confirm the reports.
China also said on Friday it was necessary to enhance “extreme scenario thinking” as the trade war deepens.
“It is essential to … enhance both bottom-line thinking and extreme scenario thinking, with a strong focus on preventing and defusing trade risks,” a commerce ministry statement said.
The Politburo meeting’s emphasis on innovation shows that China is preparing for a “deepening decoupling with the United States”, Yue Su, Principal Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.
The tone of the meeting “reflects growing concern over downside risks, as the government appears increasingly willing to factor potential negative shocks into its policy planning”, Su said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-top-leaders-pledge-economic-support-trade-war-rages-5088796
