Xi backs globalization that benefits all

President Xi Jinping on Friday called for shared efforts to promote universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, saying that the trend must be taken to a new phase that is more "dynamic, inclusive and sustainable".

In a written speech delivered to the APEC CEO Summit held in the Peruvian capital of Lima, the Chinese president made a strong case for economic globalization as the world faces rising protectionism and unilateralism.

"The attempt to block economic cooperation under all sorts of pretexts and break up the interdependence of the world is nothing but backpedaling," he told business leaders.

"We should steer economic globalization in the right direction," he said. "We must reject the beaten path that a few countries have taken to pursue dominance and hegemony."

The global community should see that economic globalization generates more positive outcomes and is taken to a new phase that is more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable, he said.

Xi arrived in Lima on Thursday afternoon for a state visit to the Latin American nation, before joining leaders and representatives from 20 other economies in the Peruvian capital for the annual leaders' meeting on Saturday.

The APEC CEO Summit, which brought together over 1,000 executives this year, was held in Lima from Wednesday to Friday under the theme of "People, Business, Prosperity".

Xi made a three-point proposal in his written speech, calling for efforts to make innovation the driving force for stronger growth of the world economy.

"We should help developing countries with their capacity building in science and technology, and promote global flow of knowledge and technologies," he said.

The reforming of the system of global economic governance was also emphasized by the Chinese president, who called for continuous efforts to enhance the representation and voice of the Global South.

"We should uphold the WTO-centered multilateral trading regime, push for an open world economic system, and keep the global industrial and supply chains stable and smooth," he said.

Meanwhile, Xi reemphasized the significance of taking a people-centered approach and seeking to settle imbalances in development.

Global prosperity and stability cannot be achieved when the rich get richer and the poor poorer, he pointed out.

"We should pursue economic globalization that is people-centered and delivers more balanced development and more equal opportunities, so that different countries, classes and communities can all benefit from development," Xi said.

He made an appeal for more countries to join the China-proposed Global Development Initiative to help expedite the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Chinese president said that the Asia-Pacific should remain the locomotive of economic globalization in the future. "While further burnishing the Asia-Pacific hallmark of openness and inclusiveness, we should make new brand-building efforts to foster a green and digital Asia-Pacific, and build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future."

He also assured the business leaders that China has "full confidence" that it will meet the growth targets for this year and remain the biggest engine of world economic growth.

"China will build a high-standard socialist market economy, foster a fairer and more dynamic market environment, and make resource allocation as efficient and productive as possible," he said.

Meanwhile, the nation will continue to nurture new quality productive forces in line with actual conditions, promote deep integration of the real economy and digital economy, boost the service sector, further modernize infrastructure, and make industrial and supply chains more resilient, he said.

This year, China has set a GDP growth target of around 5 percent, pledging to create at least 12 million new jobs and to maintain the surveyed urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 percent.

In recent months, Beijing has unveiled a series of stimulus policies to shore up the growth of the world's second-largest economy, including the allocation of 10 trillion yuan ($1.38 trillion) in new fiscal funding to replace local government hidden debt.

Xi also stressed Beijing's resolve to "stay firmly on the path of green development and continue to be an important force for global green transition", citing progress in the expansion of new energy sectors and the facilitation of international cooperation on green mining.

The nation will continue to build new, open and higher-standard economic systems, he added.

"Going forward, China will introduce more policies for voluntary and unilateral opening up, expand its globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade areas, and open its door even wider to the world," he stressed.