Xi Jinping calls legal backing on foreign affairs an ‘urgent task’ for China
- President says creating favourable legal conditions is essential as the nation opens up to the outside world
- He points to a need for reform in the trial system, and for more proactive participation in international rule-setting
Xi described this as an “urgent task for advancing high-level openness to the outside world and addressing external risks and challenges”, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
He told the gathering of the top decision-making body that creating favourable legal conditions and external environments was essential for the nation’s “rejuvenation” and also concerned the “overall picture of [China] opening up to the outside world and diplomacy”, according to the report.
It comes as Beijing has been trying to expand its legal toolkit on foreign relations – including to respond to sanctions – as rivalry with Washington and its allies intensifies in areas ranging from trade and technology to human rights and geopolitics.
International law expert Huang Huikang delivered a report on the subject at the study session, Xinhua reported, without giving further details.
Huang – who is also a diplomat and a former ambassador to Malaysia – is currently serving a third five-year term as a member of the United Nations International Law Commission.
