CHINESE President Xi Jinping launched a blistering attack on the “wanton unilateral use of sanctions” and the “weaponisation of trade” at the annual Asian Boao summit today.

The meeting, which is sometimes called the “Asian Davos” for its bringing together of many of the continent’s top political and business leaders, is significant as Asia now represents almost half the world’s economic output and is by far its fastest-growing region, Chinese officials said.

President Xi proposed a new “global security initiative” based on the territorial integrity of all countries guaranteed by agreements that “oppose the building of national security on the basis of insecurity in other countries,” thought to be a reference to the war in Ukraine.