Xi is Invited to Trump’s Inauguration, Report Says

Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely weighing his response after US President-elect Donald Trump reportedly invited him to his inauguration. Xi’s attendance would be unprecedented: no Chinese leader has ever joined an inauguration ceremony for a US president. In fact, no foreign head of state has attended one in over a century, according to State Department records. There are plenty of reasons for Xi to send his regrets, with Trump threatening new tariffs and appointing China hawks to leadership positions in his administration. It could also be politically risky given Trump’s penchant for unscripted and unexpected trolling. Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was “just a power play.”

Consumption-related Chinese stocks surged on expectations that a key annual economic meeting concluding on Thursday will yield bolder measures to prop up the economy. The two-day Central Economic Work Conference will set the economic agenda for next year, and top leaders have hinted that there will be more forceful stimulus to offset the likely impact of a possible trade war with the US. As the world braces for further escalation in trade tensions, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged the world’s two largest economies to keep talking. “It’s critical to have open channels,” Yellen told Bloomberg Television.