The trade war will not affect China's own reforms and opening up, and that the country is confident going forward, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said during an interview with the Financial Times.
"In the past 40 years, the development of China's society and economy has encountered many difficulties and problems, but as long as we uphold the leadership of the Communist Party and reform and opening up, we can surmount all challenges."
Guo also said the U.S.-led trade war is not sustainable.
“The United States has a large deficit in the trade of goods due to many causes, but it does not mean that the United States has suffered losses. On the contrary, the U.S. trade deficit is the reflection of its technological innovation ability, the competitive ability of the high-end service industry and its status of the international monetary and finance. Thus the United States can enjoy a wide range of cheap and good quality goods from all over the world at a very low cost for a long time. ”
Guo said that China and the international community stand firmly opposed to trade wars, as there are no winners in that scenario.“The fight against China's foreign trade and investment is largely a blow to multinational enterprises, including many U.S. businesses.The trade war is doomed to failure in the end.”
Washington has said it would implement tariffs on 34 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese imports on July 6, and Beijing has vowed to take comprehensive countermeasures.
"China’s tariffs on goods imported from the U.S. will be effective immediately after the U.S. implements its tariff measures on China," China's General Administration of Customs said on Thursday.
When asked about if the Sino-U.S. trade friction will have a negative impact on the international financial system, Guo said China's financial system has been running smoothly since 2018 and the overall risk is completely controllable.
On the issue of RMB devaluation, Guo stressed that China's economic fundamentals determine that there is no possibility of significant depreciation. As a gradually internationalized emerging reserve currency, the future of RMB will tend to be stronger in the future.
“After last year’s adjustment, the exchange rate of the RMB has entered into a reasonable range with bi-directional vitality. Economic fundamentals indicate that the RMB does not have a probability of a big devaluation. In recent years, some international investors have tried to earn big profits by shorting the yuan. However, the facts have proved that they misjudged the situation.”
