"Opening-up is good for China and the world; openness is a positive sum game," Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of the WTO, told People's Daily on Tuesday after Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia 2018.

Among the problems triggered by globalization, only 10-15% of unemployment, notably in Western countries, is related to open trade and the rest have to do with factors such as technological change or artificial intelligence, Lamy explained.

Lamy recalled his first trip to China, during which he shook hands with Deng Xiaoping, who started the reform and opening-up policy. "The policy was a big step forward and what Xi Jinping has in mind is another big step forward", said Lamy. "He is a man of great vision."