Xi's Boao speech receives warm applause

Scholar: Xi has sent 'signal' to the world

President Xi Jinping has sent a signal to the world his country is committed to opening up, safeguarding globalization and an open economy, a famous French scholar said.

"President Xi's speech both sends a signal for the present and also bears significance for the longer term," said David Gosset, a French scholar who founded the Europe-China Forum, in response to Xi's keynote speech made at the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, held in Hainan province on Tuesday.

During an interview, Gosset said the solution for the problem of imbalances is market access and certainly not a trade war. "China is opening its market in key sectors and this is a signal, in my view, sent to Donald Trump," Gosset said. "Trade war is not a solution, but two-way opening up and negotiation is."

For the longer term, Gosset said China supports trade and globalization and it is a country which refuses protectionism and new forms of unilateralism. "In that sense, China has become the most vocal supporter of the multilateralism which brought more prosperity and security to our world following World War II," Gosset said. "I hope the EU can work with China so the US will not continue on a path that increases uncertainty."