China warns West against protectionism

China today tried to turn the debate on its frugal domestic consumption and over-dependence on exports by warning the West that the protectionist measures could exacerbate the economic crisis and slow down the recovery.

Addressing the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which is debating how the countries with large trade surpluses should increase their domestic consumption, vice premier of China's State Council Li Keqiang said his country's positive trade balance (trade deficit) dropped by $100 billion in 2009.

Li said the protectionist measures in the West can boomerang on them.

"Trade protectionist practice will only exacerbate the economic crisis, slow down the recovery process and ultimately harm the interest of the the very countries who apply such measures," Li said.

He said the international community should firmly fight against these measures. The Chinese vice premier tried to drive home the point that his country is not only producing for the world, but for the domestic demand as well.

Li said China's  imports last year exceeded $1 trillion as aspirations of the Chinese people have also to be fulfilled.

Like India, China has also been seeking completion of the Doha Round of negotiations for a WTO agreement for opening the world trade.

"It is important to ensure a more rational and balanced outcome of the Doha Round negotiations at an early date and make the global market more open," he said.

Shift of economic power in favour of emerging economies like China and India has been the subject of the main debate at the Davos meeting being attended by 2,500 global leaders.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy had also advised the countries with trade surplus to expand their domestic consumption.