President Xi Jinping called on companies to step up innovation and help stabilize employment, reflecting an urgency to bolster China’s economy in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and U.S. efforts to restrict access to key technologies.
In a symposium attended by executives including from Microsoft Corp., Panasonic Corp., Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. and Sinochem Group Co., Xi called for companies to invest more in human capital, modernizing supply chains and research and development of new technologies, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. He said globalization was a historic trend, a comment that appeared to push back against countries led by the U.S. that are looking to reduce dependence on China.
"We shall stand on the correct side of history,” Xi said. He added that his government would "stick to deepening reforms and opening up, step up opening up and cooperation in the sci-tech field, advance the development of an open world economy, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.”