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NBC News
17-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
'Confident' China touts poverty alleviation efforts amid trade war with the U.S.
MALIPO, China — The rural villages of Malipo are a world away from gleaming Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, reached by narrow roads that sometimes skirt dangerously close to deep ravines. Schoolchildren eat simple breakfasts while squatting on sidewalks, and even a local official complained that the remote mountain villages lacked access to the latest 5G internet connection. But Chinese officials point to overall progress in this thickly forested, highly mountainous border region in southwest China as a reason for their 'confidence' in the country's development model, and in its ability to weather any trade war with the United States. 'We have full confidence and the capability to overcome all difficulties,' Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said last week during a government-sponsored trip to the rural county of Malipo in Yunnan province, on the border with Vietnam. 'As for what the United States is doing, we really don't want any kind of war, but if we have to face up to reality, then we have no fear at all,' she told reporters at a middle school. 'The ordinary people already feel the suffering from the tariff war, so I really hope the [U.S.] administration will come back to normal.' Hua was speaking before the U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs on each other's imports in what Beijing said showed the effectiveness of its resistance against President Donald Trump's tariff 'bullying.' She and other officials said Malipo, where 233,000 people are spread among several towns and hundreds of 'village groups,' is a model for China's poverty alleviation efforts in recent decades. Per capita disposable income in Malipo was $2,300 a year last year, compared with about $69 a year in 1992. But Beijing's professed confidence belies real concern about the work that remains to be done as well as the potential impact of U.S. tariffs as China struggles with structural imbalances and slowing economic growth. The situation spans China's urban-rural divide and is obvious even to residents of Malipo. 'The economy is not that good,' said Liu Huixin, a vendor selling processed fruits and other products from Vietnam and Thailand at a market. 'Look at many shops around, people are not buying,' he said. Ending 'absolute poverty' — a goal that Chinese President Xi Jinping said was officially achieved at the end of 2020 — is considered essential for reducing income inequality in the world's second-biggest economy as it strives to catch up with the United States. More than 450 million of China's 1.4 billion people live in rural areas, and getting them to spend more on consumer products is crucial as China tries to reduce its economic dependence on exports threatened by tariffs. China has also touted its 'poverty alleviation' program as a model for developing countries in the Global South that face similar challenges. 'The experience of Malipo in poverty alleviation has global significance,' said Liu Guiqing, 40, a senior Chinese diplomat who is also county vice mayor of Malipo under a program that partners central government ministries and wealthy provinces and institutions with impoverished areas. Hua said the strength of China's system is its ability to 'concentrate resources' on people's urgent needs. Beijing is thought to have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on poverty alleviation since 2015. China's approach to reducing inequality combines 'coercive top-down control' with high social spending in an effort to 'highlight the perceived failures of liberal free-market capitalism,' Rana Mitter, a historian and political scientist at the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote in a new Foreign Affairs article. Programs such as the one in Malipo are 'an increasingly important part of China's messaging, that it has development solutions for rural as well as urban areas,' Mitter told NBC News. 'This is likely to be particularly attractive in the many Global South countries that still have large agricultural sectors and may look to Chinese examples to find ways to modernize their own rural area,' he said. Companies investing in Malipo are still motivated by the 'invisible hand of the market forces,' said Jason Choi, director of the Sunwah Group, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate. He said the improved infrastructure and government support were important factors in the decision by his family's company to invest about $7 million in a modern tea factory in Malipo, as well as the branding potential associated with Malipo's ancient tea trees. 'We have created employment directly for more than a hundred people, and for some 10,000 people downstream and upstream,' said Choi, 25. In nearby Jinping, another county targeted for poverty alleviation, Colorful Group, a company based in the Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen that specializes in graphics cards used in video games, has invested some $15 million in a smart agriculture company and other ventures, creating production jobs for more than 200 people, and for many more engaged in contract farming. Its corn products are sold in China at Walmart's Sam's Club, 7-Eleven shops and on the e-commerce platform in addition to being exported to Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Asked about the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, Malipo Mayor Xiao Changju pointed to the rapid development prospects of border trade with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.
New Straits Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
China says it has full confidence in ability to manage US trade issues
MALIPO: China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues, Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday, a day before officials from both sides are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss the tariffs they have imposed on each other. "We have no fear," Hua told a small group of reporters at a middle school in a rural county in southwestern China, adding that the trade policy of the US administration cannot be sustained. The weekend talks involving top US and Chinese economic and trade officials are widely seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war that has disrupted the global economy. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down. "We have full confidence," Hua said during a Beijing-organised trip to Malipo county to showcase China's efforts to build up rural economies. "We do not want any kind of war with any country. But we have to face up to the reality. As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties." Trump's tariffs on many of the United States' trading partners, including China, are increasingly weighing on a world economy which for decades had benefited from predictable and relatively free trade. Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a "demand shock" to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere. "What the United States is doing cannot be sustained," Hua said. "Ordinary people in the US already feel suffering from the tariff war." The US administration will come back to "normal", she said.
The Sun
09-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
China says it has full confidence in ability to manage US trade issues
MALIPO: China has full confidence in its ability to manage U.S. trade issues, Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday, a day before officials from both sides are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss the tariffs they have imposed on each other. 'We have no fear,' Hua told a small group of reporters at a middle school in a rural county in southwestern China, adding that the trade policy of the U.S. administration cannot be sustained. The weekend talks involving top U.S. and Chinese economic and trade officials are widely seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war that has disrupted the global economy. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down. 'We have full confidence,' Hua said during a Beijing-organised trip to Malipo county to showcase China's efforts to build up rural economies. 'We do not want any kind of war with any country. But we have to face up to the reality. As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties.' Trump's tariffs on many of the United States' trading partners, including China, are increasingly weighing on a world economy which for decades had benefited from predictable and relatively free trade. Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a 'demand shock' to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere. 'What the United States is doing cannot be sustained,' Hua said. 'Ordinary people in the U.S. already feel suffering from the tariff war.' The U.S. administration will come back to 'normal', she said.
The Sun
09-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
China Confident Ahead of U.S. Trade Talks in Switzerland
MALIPO: China has full confidence in its ability to manage U.S. trade issues, Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday, a day before officials from both sides are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss the tariffs they have imposed on each other. 'We have no fear,' Hua told a small group of reporters at a middle school in a rural county in southwestern China, adding that the trade policy of the U.S. administration cannot be sustained. The weekend talks involving top U.S. and Chinese economic and trade officials are widely seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war that has disrupted the global economy. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down. 'We have full confidence,' Hua said during a Beijing-organised trip to Malipo county to showcase China's efforts to build up rural economies. 'We do not want any kind of war with any country. But we have to face up to the reality. As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties.' Trump's tariffs on many of the United States' trading partners, including China, are increasingly weighing on a world economy which for decades had benefited from predictable and relatively free trade. Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a 'demand shock' to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere. 'What the United States is doing cannot be sustained,' Hua said. 'Ordinary people in the U.S. already feel suffering from the tariff war.' The U.S. administration will come back to 'normal', she said.
Business Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China says it has full confidence in ability to manage US trade issues
[MALIPO, China] China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues, Vice-Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday (May 9), a day before officials from both sides are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss the tariffs they have imposed on each other. 'We have no fear,' Hua told a small group of reporters at a middle school in a rural county in southwestern China, adding that the trade policy of the US administration cannot be sustained. The weekend talks involving top US and Chinese economic and trade officials are widely seen as a first step towards resolving a trade war that has disrupted the global economy. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US tariffs on Beijing of 145 per cent would likely come down. 'We have full confidence,' Hua said during a Beijing-organised trip to Malipo county to showcase China's efforts to build up rural economies. 'We do not want any kind of war with any country. But we have to face up to the reality. As you can see, people have full confidence in our capability to overcome all the difficulties.' BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Trump's tariffs on many of the United States' trading partners, including China, are increasingly weighing on a world economy which for decades had benefited from predictable and relatively free trade. Many economists are calling the Trump tariffs a 'demand shock' to the world economy which, by making imports more expensive for American businesses and consumers, will sap activity elsewhere. 'What the United States is doing cannot be sustained,' Hua said. 'Ordinary people in the US already feel suffering from the tariff war.' The US administration will come back to 'normal', she said. REUTERS
