Reject protectionism

The message that Premier Wen Jiabao delivered at Davos and during his European tour is simple and clear: Trade protectionism is not the answer to the current global crisis.

In a year when the world economic growth is forecast to come to a virtual halt - its lowest level in 60 years - with global trade plummeting, such a warning against protectionism is more than needed.

Though the international community has had the terrible lesson that protectionism only exacerbated the Depression in the 1930s, there is so far no guarantee that the world will not need to learn it again during the ongoing fight against the worst recession in decades.