Xi concerned over sliding world openness index

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping on Thursday expressed concerns over the decline of an index on world openness and the weakening global consensus on opening-up in the past decade.

Xi made the remarks when addressing the opening ceremony of the fourth China International Import Expo via video.

He said economic globalization is faced with headwinds amid global changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century, as well as rising unilateralism and protectionism.

The president called for grasping the prevailing development trend of economic globalization, supporting all countries in further opening up, opposing unilateralism and protectionism and pushing for a brighter future for humankind.