Tuesday, December 18, 2018

In Defiant Speech, President Xi Declares "No One Can Dictate Reforms To China"

Given that he was speaking to honor the 40th anniversary of the 1978 reforms that set China on the path toward building a modern industrialized state, Xi Jinping - markets had hoped - might announce new reform measures or economic liberalization efforts like certain policy moves that had been teased by the Wall Street Journal last week.

As we described last night, Chinese stocks slumped as Xi opted not to make "Liberalization" and "Reform" the centerpiece of his speech.

Xi told an audience of party officials, military leaders and entrepreneurs in a speech Tuesday that "No one is in the position to dictate to the Chinese people what should and should not be done." The 80-minute address in Beijing was held to mark the 40th anniversary of the Reform and Opening Up campaign that unleashed the country's economic boom under then leader Deng Xiaoping.

Just two-and-a-half weeks after China committed to pursuing an end to the trade war with the US, the tone of Xi's remarks was conspicuously defiant.

The speech continued the measured, if defiant, tone Xi has struck amid a trade war with the U.S. that has fueled concerns about China's slowing economy and battered capital markets.

He also ominously claimed that "There is no textbook" of golden rules to follow toward reform in China, while rejecting analysts' hopes for new policy initiatives to arrest the slowdown in China's economic growth that has been aggravated by its trade war with the US. "There is no textbook of golden rules to follow for reform and development in China, a country with over 5,000 years of civilization and more than 1.3 billion people," Xi said.

Despite the expectations of some analysts, Xi delivered no new policy initiatives to address fears that China's economic slowdown might worsen as the trade war continues with the U.S. Instead, he emphasized the continuation of established policies.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-18/defiant-speech-president-xi-declares-no-one-can-dictate-reforms-china

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