Pepe Escobara: Global helmsman Xi Jinping

Quote:He did it, his way; Chinese President Xi Jinping descended on the Swiss Alps; profited from a geopolitical vacuum only three days before Donald Trump’s inauguration with the Atlanticist West mired in stagnation and/or protectionism; unleashed a charm offensive; and deftly positioned China in the lead of “inclusive” globalization.

In a wide-ranging speech that went from global angst to China’s new normal, Xi sounded all the right notes that global capital needed to hear; protectionism is like “locking oneself in a dark room,” and “no one is a winner in a trade war.”

His speech delved into the necessity of peace in Syria, the perverse effects of the absence of financial regulation, and the struggle for “balance between efficiency and equity.”

So onwards with the fourth industrial revolution – and may China deliver.

Xi, the first Chinese president to visit the turbo-capitalist World Economic Forum talkfest, meant business from the start.

He arrived with an 80-strong delegation that included Alibaba’s Jack Ma, Dalian Wanda’s Wang Jianlin – China’s top two billionaires – as well as Baidu’s Zhang Yaqin.