‘World Benefits From China’s Development and Reforms’
Messages from the Understanding China Conference that closed Sunday show that China’s reform and opening-up have delivered tangible benefits to the world and contributed to a new round of economic globalisation.
The event, held in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s economic powerhouse of Guangdong Province, brought in-depth discussions on ‘New Globalisation and China’s New Round of Reform and Opening Up.’
About 600 officials, strategists, scholars and entrepreneurs from 17 countries and regions, as well as representatives of international organisations, participated in the three-day event.
ECONOMIC GLOBALISATION
The international trading system that has made possible the extension and expansion of the opportunities of globalisation is “under severe stress,” said Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico, at the opening ceremony.
“We are moving rapidly from a rules-based system into a system based on the force of power. And that, in other words, means the law of the jungle, which is detrimental for globalisation,” he said. Against the backdrop of the twists and turns of economic globalisation, China’s economy has shown sufficient resilience and great potential.
China’s GDP expanded 6.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2019 to about 69.78 trillion yuan (about FJ$21.6trln), according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
During the conference, participants were optimistic about China’s development prospects. “Globalisation and China’s own policies have been highly complementary and mutually beneficial. We need to recognise this to fully understand China’s commitment to globalisation and the new round of the reform and opening up today,” said Li Yong, director-general of the UN Industrial Development Organisation.
China has contributed a lot to globalisation, said Martin Jacques, a senior fellow of the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, adding that one of China’s basic views on globalisation is inclusiveness, which allows China to better integrate into the world economy. “From China-Africa co-operation to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), we can see China’s active integration into the world economy,” he said.
REFORM AND OPENING-UP
With nearly 1.4 billion people, China has always been a good example of an open economy, as well as a defender and a promoter of globalisation.
“China’s development made by its reform and opening-up policy is inseparable from and mutually reinforcing with the process of globalisation,” said Zheng Bijian, chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy.
“The current era calls for a new framework of economic globalisation and China will contribute to the world economy through opening-up,” he said.
China has signed documents with more than 160 countries and international organisations on B&R cooperation, which is a good example of China’s opening-up determination.
“The initiative has linked China extensively with its neighbors,” said Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
With strengthened co-operation, more economic dividends will be seen in B&R countries, he added. From 2013 to 2018, the trade volume between China and other countries along the B&R surpassed US$6 trillion (FJ$ 21.6trln) and China’s investment in those countries exceeded US$90 billion (FJ$196.8bn)
“Though proposed by China, the opportunities and achievements brought by the BRI are shared by the world,” said Zhao Ai, executive vice president of the China Society of Economic Reform. “The co-operation among B&R countries has opened up new space for world economic growth, built a new platform for international trade and investment and contributed to the improvement of the global governance system,” he said.
China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, which is a remarkable miracle and has made great contributions to the world, said Professor Zheng Yongnian with the East Asian Institute of the NUS.
China has begun to move from quantitative economic growth to qualitative economic development, taking opportunities in the development of the GuangdongHong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area while actively promoting the new round of economic globalisation, Mr Zheng added.