Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a vigorous defense of globalization Tuesday, pushing back against the "America first" rhetoric of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and signaling Beijing's desire to play a bigger role on the global stage.
Xi's speech to political leaders, CEOs and bankers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was the first by a Chinese leader and marked a possible shift in the global political landscape as Western democracies struggle with the rise of populist nationalism.
China, a one-party communist state that maintains tough restrictions on foreign investment, would seem an unlikely champion of free markets at an event that has become synonymous with global capitalism.