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Hitachi president: China's anti-protectionist stand should be applauded

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-19 20:06

China's anti-protectionist stand should be lauded as trade protectionism will only aggravate the already grave economic situation worldwide amid the ongoing financial crisis, said Kazuo Furukawa, president of Japan's industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd, in a written interview with Xinhua.

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Protectionism holds a horrified fascination at a time when the financial crisis has taken a heavy toll on world's economies, where employment rates have constantly been contracting, Furukawa said.

But job opportunities will become even fewer if protectionism triggers further shrinkage in word trade, he said, noting that in this respect China-advocated international cooperation as well as its anti-protectionist stand is of special significance and should be applauded by the international community.

Asia's emerging economies could play an important role in tackling the financial crisis, he said, adding that measures such as the promotion of international cooperation and expansion of free trade and investment will help check the further decline of world economy.

To eliminate the adverse effects of the financial crisis, Furukawa believes that it is imperative to psychologically restore mutual trust and confidence among economies of the world.

In this sense, if China's anti-protectionist stand could prompt other countries to adopt similar stances and thus rebuild mutual trust and confidence among various economies, China will surely make enormous contributions to tiding the world over the crisis as well as to an early recovery of world economy.