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Top Chinese official Wang Yang tells Hong Kong business delegation to prepare for lengthy trade war with US but to join forces with mainland enterprises
- Wang Yang, the country’s No 4 official, meets delegation from Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Beijing
- According to delegation leader, Wang said Chinese enterprises would like to go abroad for development and Hong Kong firms should join with them
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The head of China’s top political advisory body has told a Hong Kong business delegation in Beijing to be ready for a protracted trade war and expressed hopes local firms can join hands with mainland Chinese enterprises to “go abroad” for development.
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The remarks on Wednesday by Wang Yang, the country’s No 4 official and chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, followed President Xi Jinping’s call on Monday for the nation to embark on a “new Long March”, in a sign that Beijing has given up hope of reaching a trade deal with the United States in the near term.
The Long March was an epic military retreat between 1934 and 1936 undertaken by the Communist Party’s Red Army to evade pursuing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese civil war.
“Wang feels this [trade war] situation can last for quite a long time … and asked us to be prepared,” delegation leader Jonathan Choi Koon-shum, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, said.
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“He said Chinese enterprises would like to go abroad and Hong Kong, with a strong international network and professional services, should join together with them for mutual benefit.”
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