(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat -
'When two big elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers,' said H E Li Lingbing, China's Ambassador to Oman, citing an African proverb to explain the impact on GCC countries because of the ongoing trade friction between China and the US.
She was speaking at a briefing held last week to deliberate on the issue of the White Paper released by the Chinese government titled, 'China's Position on the China-US Economic and Trade Consultations'.
This ongoing trade differences between the US and China will have a negative impact on other countries, H E Li said. 'This dispute will have some impact. I just mentioned China and America are just a part of this international trade system just like other countries. Since there is a trade dispute between the two countries, of course there will be some negative impact on other countries. That is why China is trying to solve this dispute between the two countries through better cooperation.'
She added that the African proverb rightly explains the current world situation. The Chinese stance on this problem has always been clear, she said. 'We are not really willing to have a trade war with any country including America. This is not because we want to protect the interests of our own people but it will also be beneficial to every country in this world. The dependency of trade and economic globalisation is unstoppable. Every country will benefit from that. That is exactly the idea of the starting point of Chinese policy.'
She said that almost 90 per cent of Oman's oil is exported to China. When asked whether the dispute between the US and China will lead to more non-oil exports from Oman, H E Li agreed to it by saying, 'The relationship between China and Oman is not about just oil import. We have a strategic partnership with Oman. The Chinese government is trying its best for further co-operation in other areas like non-oil products export. This is one of the focus areas from the Chinese side. And I believe there will be more cooperation in this area in future.'
H E Li said that trade between China and the GCC countries is getting better each year. 'If the situation gets any worse in future, there will be more opportunities for the GCC countries in the trade sector. I believe since we have close relationship in trade and other areas with the GCC countries, we will use this opportunity to have a better trade partnership with the GCC countries.
'The big picture is that it will have an impact on every country. So, if the situation gets worse everybody will suffer. That is why the things that China is doing now is not for its own benefit but for the protection of international trade system for every single country that is part of the international trade system.'
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