China’s president Xi Jinping addressed a large crowd of constituents Tuesday morning, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of significant financial changes made by former President Deng Xiaoping in 1978. Xiaoping’s reformations moved the country away from the closed society designed by Mao Zedong and are considered to be the building blocks of the pseudo-capitalist society the country currently runs on now. Many experts believe that China’s rapid growth in the last 40 years is a direct result of the more accessible market Xiaoping ushered in, according to a report from CNBC.

During his speech, Xi spoke at length about the current trade rift between China and the USA. Although the two countries agreed earlier this month not to place additional tariffs on one another, Xi proclaimed that China should “stay the course,” and that “no one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done.” These remarks are a clear signal that China will continue to carve its own path into the future, regardless of US intervention.

“There is no text book that can provide a golden rule, and there is no instructor who can boss around the Chinese people,” Xi said during his remarks, which according to Reuters lasted around ninety minutes.

However, no one is sure what that path might be. Xi gave no hints to what his plans for the Chinese economy are, and instead highlighted the successes the Communist Party has enjoyed in recent years, according to a report from Bloomberg. Also mentioned were his country’s technological achievements, but many critics of Beijing claim these achievements are the result of industrial espionage and not homegrown ingenuity.

Stock markets across the Pacific stumbled after the president’s speech. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan, the South Korean Kospi market, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, and The Shanghai Composite were all in the red throughout Tuesday, reports Market Watch. The S&P ASX 200 from Australia was also down.

“China equities are parked in neutral as investors remain hopeful for a more proactive fiscal policy tone from mainland regulators at China’s economic work conference,” wrote Oanda’s chief of Asia-Pacific trading, Stephen Innes, according to Market Watch. Brokers in the US enjoyed a slight gain on Tuesday’s opening. However, Reuters reports money managers throughout the world are still holding their breath to see if the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again before the end of the year.