China's Hu punches back on investment, trade barriers

By Lucy Hornby

SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (Reuters) - With pressure piling up on China to appreciate its currency at the annual Asia-Pacific summit, the Chinese president used his speech to the gathering as a soapbox for some complaints of his own.

Hu Jintao's 20-minute speech to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation -- which never once mentioned the yuan -- gives insight into some of the concessions China may require if it is to cooperate on currency issues that the West says contribute to global imbalances [ID:nSP220440].

China's trading partners have been grumbling about the value of the yuan, which China last year pegged to the weakening dollar, making its exports more competitive.

Hu warned that protectionism will not help countries move out of the crisis, adding that the world's economic recovery is not yet firmly established.

"We must continue to promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation and oppose protectionism in all its manifestations, particularly the unreasonable trade and investment restrictions imposed on developing countries," Hu said in a speech, without elaborating.

Chinese state-owned firms have been blocked from proposed resource investments in the United States, Canada, Australia and Chile over the past five years, due to labour opposition and national security concerns.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

A recent trip by Chinese vice premier Li Keqiang helped smooth tensions with Australia, which flared after a deal by state-owned aluminium firm Chinalco failed in a bid to increase its stake in Australian miner Rio Tinto (RIO.L)(RIO.AX), an Chinese executive told Reuters at the APEC meeting.

"In the short term, there may be some problems and friction. But in the long term, I have confidence" in the opportunities for Chinese investment in Australia, said Zuo Weiwen, chairman of the overseas arm of Metallurgical Corp of China, a state-owned mining and engineering firm which is the contractor on a coal mine in Queensland, Australia.

In trade negotiations, China maintains that restrictions by the United States and Europe on advanced technology and weapons systems contribute to its huge trade surplus.

"We should intensify economic and technological cooperation, reduce man-made barriers to technology transfer, narrow the technological gap, especially the green technology gap, between developed and developing countries and avoid a new "green divide," Hu said.

Hu called for reform of international financial supervision and regulatory systems, in which China has sought a greater say.

"We should encourage stronger international cooperation in financial supervision and regulation, expand the coverage of supervision and regulation and move quickly to adopt supervisory and regulatory standards that are widely acceptable," he said.

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Bill Tarrant)