Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on the G20 countries to lower their customs duties in order to send a signal of confidence in the world economy, the official China news agency reported. .
At a virtual summit between the 20 largest economies on the planet, Xi Jinping "called on G20 members to reduce tariffs, remove (customs) barriers and facilitate trade flows."
The second world economy paralyzed since February
China, where Covid-19 appeared at the end of last year, has been hit hard by the virus, with more than 80,000 people infected and nearly 3,300 dead, according to official figures. The second world economy was practically paralyzed in February by the measures taken to stop the epidemic. Activity gradually resumed in March on the back of the very marked slowdown in contagion. But China's economic recovery is now likely to be hampered by the severe brake on the European and North American markets, Beijing's main customers.
In this context, President Xi "called on all G20 members to take collective action, send a strong signal and restore confidence in favor of the global economic recovery". Even before the epidemic started, the Chinese economy had slowed sharply last year due to the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump, which imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese products.
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- Xi Jinping