Chinese president calls for opposing protectionism

Source: Xinhua | 04-03-2009 08:21

LONDON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao urged to oppose trade protectionism Thursday at the G20 summit in London.

Recently, trade protectionism as well as other forms of protectionism have notably increased, Hu said in a speech.

This goes against the consensus that has been reached at the Washington Summit on rejecting protectionism and refraining from turning inward in our policies, he said.

"Protectionism was prevalent during the Great Depression in the1920s and 1930s, but it only led to grave consequences. Lessons of history must be learnt," Hu said, adding no country should resort to protectionism under the excuse of stimulating the economy.

"We should jointly oppose those discriminatory practices against foreign workers under the excuse of protecting domestic jobs," the president said.

"We should work together to oppose trade protectionism in all manifestations and reject attempts to raise the market access threshold under various excuses and all forms of investment protectionism that harm the interests of other countries," he said.