Today, the Chinese president begins an Asian tour to enhance trade relations

Chinese President Xi Jinping will start today, Monday, a tour of Southeast Asia aimed at strengthening his country’s trade relations and showing it as a reliable partner, unlike the United States that launched a global commercial attack.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Xi will go to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia to meet his counterparts, in his first foreign visits this year.

Shock in global markets

This tour comes at a time when the Asian giant is trying to appear as a reliable partner, unlike Washington, after US President Donald Trump launched a global commercial attack by imposing additional customs duties on Chinese products with a high rate of 145%, excluding some commodities.

This procedure caused a shock in the global markets and pushed Beijing to a response.
The Chinese Minister of Trade Wang Winto, President of the World Trade Organization, Naguzi Oldo Iyalia, told a phone call on Friday that American customs duties “will cause great harm to developing countries.”

The concern of Asian countries

Southeast Asia is a major destination for Chinese exports. Last year, the Southeast Asian Countries Association countries imported goods with a total value of 586.5 billion dollars, which made this regional bloc at the front of the importers, according to Chinese customs data.
Vietnam leads these countries with $ 161.9 billion, followed by Malaysia (101.5 billion dollars).
After announcing the imposition of additional customs duties by 46% on Vietnam and 24% on Malaysia, among other countries, Trump said he would postpone its application for 90 days.
But his policies have caused the concern of Asian countries, according to Hong Li Tho, assistant director in the Asian section of the International Crisis Group.
She pointed out that “customs duties, if they are actually applied in addition to China, will not leave an option for economies except to move away more than the United States.”