Chinese President calls for more free-trade deals

Shanghai: President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged to further open China's economy, declaring the world must "knock down walls" as he opened an annual trade fair against the backdrop of the US tariffs war.

Xi addressed an audience including French President Emmanuel Macron at the import exhibition in Shanghai, staged annually by China to show its willingness to open up its vast domestic markets in the face of criticism that they remain too closed.

The world community must "continue to knock down walls instead of building walls, resolutely oppose protectionism and unilateralism, (and) continuously reduce trade barriers", Xi said.

The speech was light on specifics, however, and thus unlikely to mollify foreign critics who accuse China of a range of protectionist measures and failing to deliver on reform promises.