President Xi Jinping Presents a New and Improved China to the World

President Xi Jinping of China will meet with US President Barack Obama this week after making stops in Latin America and the Caribbean. Pres. Xi has stunned the world after delivering on his promise of fortifying China’s financial and economic growth in the past few years. China is now the second biggest economy in the world after the United States. The Chinese President is also showing that he is open to negotiating with other nations to help them with their economic concerns.

Rising from the ashes

The year 2008 was not a very good one for almost every country in the world. It was the time when nations started to experience grave economic losses. A global crisis was inevitable. The succeeding years proved to be very crucial for many nations as they seek to stabilize their economies. China is amongst the few countries that are able to make a comeback and show that it has become even stronger. The Chinese government has shown in 6 of the past 10 years that it was capable of a 10% annual growth.

As of last year, China is for 128 nations a bigger partner in trade than the US, which is the top trading partner for only 72 nations. China was able to surpass Japan as the second biggest economy, and successfully pushed forward with its economic policies. China’s growth is rather noticeable since a lot of Western countries are still in a slump and finding it difficult still to rise from the global crisis.

Pres. Xi’s itinerary

Far from what everyone expects, Pres. Xi did not go straight to the White House to meet with US President Obama. As a matter of fact his meeting with the President of the US will occur in California and not in Washington DC. His itinerary started in Trinidad followed by a visit to Costa Rica and then Mexico. It is evident that by presenting China as a growing economic power, President Xi wants to assert his country’s presence in nations where US influence has always been very strong.

Making China’s presence known

In Trinidad, Pres. Xi made a promise to give loans amounting to $3 billion. As such, Pres. Xi’s visit to Trinidad was very much appreciated by the leaders of the Caribbean country. According to Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad, Pres. Xi’s kindness was very welcome.

After the successful visit to the Caribbean, Pres. Xi proceeded to Costa Rica in Central America. The Chinese president targeted the renovation of an oil refinery in the country and was willing to give a $900 million loan for the said project.

In Mexico, Pres. Xi, together with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, negotiated to strengthen the trade of goods between their nations.

Setting a new mood for US-China summit

The summit between the two biggest economies in the world is being set up differently. Both presidents have agreed on an informal manner of negotiations to further discuss pertinent matters since there are a number of items to cover. According to the current agreement, the talks should probably last for about six hours. Both presidents are looking forward to have a better, more stable relationship for the mutual benefit of American and Chinese citizens.

Caption: President Xi Jinping of China