President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that China’s economy is operating “within the proper range” and that its stock market has recovered after suffering from a period of severe volatility.
Xi acknowledged that the world’s second-largest economy has come under pressure in recent months, but said this was expected given the “complex” and “volatile” global economic environment.
He was speaking before business leaders in downtown Seattle during a rare address to an American audience.
Xi also defended his government’s response to China’s recent stock market crash, saying that action was needed to “prevent massive panic.”
The banquet room where Xi delivered the speech was under heavy security. About 700 guests — including dignitaries, business leaders and government delegates — attended the banquet.
Chinese officials often start U.S. visits with a stop in Seattle, and Xi has a jam-packed schedule that includes a visit to Boeing’s factory in Everett, Washington, and a roundtable discussion with CEOs from some of the U.S.’s largest businesses. Executives from Amazon, Pepsi, Microsoft, Disney and DuPont, among others, are expected to attend.
Yet Seattle is in some ways a warmup act for Xi before he travels to Washington, D.C. for his first official state visit. On the agenda are issues including cybersecurity, China’s response to its stock market crisis, its campaign to build islands in the disputed South China Sea, cybersecurity and Beijing’s anti-corruption crackdown.
Xi addressed some of those issues on Tuesday, pledging cooperation on cybersecurity and insisting that Beijing would never use hacking to steal corporate secrets.
“Commercial cybertheft and hacking against government networks are crimes that must be punished in accordance with the law and relevant international treaties,” Xi said, adding that China is ready to set up a “high-level” dialogue with the U.S. on cybercrime.
Xi also stressed the importance of the Sino-U.S. relationship, arguing that neither side would benefit from a confrontation.
“If China and the U.S. cooperate well, they can become a bedrock of global stability and a booster of world peace,” he said. “Should they enter into conflict or confrontation, it would lead to disaster for both countries.”
Penny Pritzker, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who spoke before Xi on Tuesday, offered a preview of the message the Obama administration hopes to send Beijing later this week.
“We and our companies continue to have serious concerns about an overall lack of legal and regulatory transparency, inconsistent protection of intellectual property, discriminatory cyber and technology policies, and more generally the lack of a level playing field across multiple sectors,” she said.
Pritzker said she expects to have “candid” and “constructive” discussions on these issues in the coming days.
— Kevin Wang contributed reporting.