Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks during the opening session of the National People's Congress, at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, on March 5.Andy Wong/The Associated Press
As U.S. President Donald Trump addressed an angrily divided Congress on Tuesday evening, across the world in China the scene was a marked contrast, with the country’s leaders gathering in Beijing to project calm and unity in the face of an escalating trade war.
Concurrent with Mr. Trump’s address, in which he angrily defended his policy of imposing stringent tariffs against the country’s three largest trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China – Chinese Premier Li Qiang stood before the Great Hall of the People to hail the resilience of the country’s economy in the face of an “increasingly complex and severe external environment.”
“The underlying trend of long-term economic growth has not changed and will not change,” Mr. Li said in opening the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. “The giant ship of China’s economy will continue to cleave the waves and sail steadily toward the future.”
Ahead of his speech, Beijing unveiled an annual growth target of “around 5 per cent.” This is the same as last year, despite the challenges posed by Mr. Trump’s tariffs and structural issues facing the Chinese economy, including a property bubble, local government debt and a growing demographic challenge.
Chinese state media echoed Mr. Li’s defiance, with a piece in the state-run China Daily saying the country “stays strong in the face of U.S. tariff wars.”
“While Washington’s trade policies strain traditional alliances, Beijing is leveraging its economic initiatives to attract new partners,” author Shan Yuexing wrote. “The global balance of power is shifting, and the United States risks finding itself increasingly isolated in a trade war of its own making.”
In an article in the People’s Daily official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, it warned that along with its direct targets, Mr. Trump’s tariffs would “deal a heavy blow to Europe’s economy and trade.” Meanwhile, the state-run Global Times said it was U.S. farmers “who are likely to be among the first to bear the brunt of the trade hostilities triggered by Washington’s tariff policy.”
Mr. Trump’s aggressive policies – both on trade and his recent treatment of Ukraine – have played into Beijing’s hands as China seeks to present itself as a responsible global actor, particularly in the so-called Global South, where its economic sway is greater.
In the past year, Mr. Li noted Wednesday, “we consolidated and expanded partnerships across the globe, stayed committed to true multilateralism and played a positive and constructive role in addressing global challenges and resolving regional and international hot spot issues.”
Speaking to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post this week, former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said Mr. Trump’s policies were likely to drive more countries into China’s arms.
“China will be the main beneficiary of Trump’s second presidency,” Mr. Kubela said. “All nations of the world will look around at what is happening, and they will realize quite quickly that the only stable and sane power in the world is China.”
Markets responded positively to Mr. Li’s address Wednesday, with shares up in Hong Kong and Beijing, particularly after the Premier reiterated support for the country’s beleaguered private sector, weeks after President Xi Jinping met with leading entrepreneurs in an apparent sign that a government crackdown on tech and other sectors was easing.
“We will foster emerging industries and industries of the future,” Mr. Li said, including “biomanufacturing, quantum technology, embodied AI and 6G technology.”
China has long been looking for what it calls “new growth drivers,” as it attempts to pivot away from an economy reliant on state investment and traditional industries toward domestic consumption and high-tech.
However, analysts were skeptical whether Beijing would go far enough in driving up domestic demand, long seen as vital to rebalancing the Chinese economy.
Leah Fahy, an analyst at Capital Economics, said there was “a lot of talk about consumption and slightly less follow through” so far at the NPC.
As well as revealing economic targets, Mr. Li said China would increase defence spending by 7.2 per cent year-on-year, the same rate as 2024 and almost twice the regional average of 3.9 per cent.
“We will step up military training and combat readiness, speed up the development of new combat capabilities and establish a framework of modern military theories with Chinese characteristics, so as to firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” Mr. Li said.
Washington’s abrupt pivot away from Ukraine since Mr. Trump took office has alarmed many in Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing. But while some Chinese commentators have been keen to suggest Mr. Trump might be equally unwilling to come to Taipei’s support in the face of Chinese aggression, Mr. Li did not dwell on the issue.
Reiterating previous long-standing policies, he said Beijing supported the “peaceful development of cross-Strait relations” while continuing to “firmly advance the cause of China’s reunification and work with our fellow Chinese in Taiwan to realize the glorious cause of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”