‘Chinese renaissance’ benefits the world
Sinologist and international relations expert David Gosset said that this year marks the acceleration of China’s return to a position of centrality through a process of renaissance.
At the latest Vision China event, which was held as a part of the 10th Lanzhou Yellow River Cultural Tourism Festival on Sept 25, the French scholar and founder of the EuropeChina Forum shared his definition of the Chinese renaissance.
He said that 2020 is an unforgettable year because of COVID-19. Some foreign media and thinkers predicted
China’s collapse when the virus hit the country in February.
“In my opinion, this pandemic and its effects create a world in which we see not only a Chinese renaissance but also an acceleration of China’s return to a position of centrality,” said Gosset.
The Chinese renaissance is an ongoing process which is going to change our world, he added.
The first point he used to define the renaissance is China’s economic strength.
He mentioned the country’s great achievements in poverty alleviation over the past four decades, noting that China accounted for 1.7 percent of the global economy in 1978 and accounts for 16 percent today.
“And despite the tough beginning of the year, China is going to grow in 2020, while most of the countries in the world will not grow at all,” he said.
The global affairs analyst pointed out that the “secret weapon” of China’s economy is its “1.4 billion consumers”.
He said tourists are a kind of consumer, and Lanzhou city and Gansu province tap this segment well.
“Millions of Chinese come to Lanzhou, Tianshui and Dunhuang. The economy here is going to grow,” he said, emphasizing the importance of China’s plan to boost domestic consumption.
He noted that the Chinese renaissance is about social transformation, which translates as the country’s political modernity. And that means China will enrich the vocabularies of Western political scientists.
The renaissance is also about the country’s cultural and intellectual metamorphoses. In this sense, Chinese intellectuals need to reinterpret classical Chinese tradition, he said.
Gosset also highlighted the positive effects of China’s opening-up on its renaissance.
China projects itself globally for people, technology, goods, finance, military and diplomacy, he said.
Another point he used to define the Chinese renaissance is China’s concept of an ecological civilization.
He said such ideas, like those presented by President Xi Jinping and China’s vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, can not only be applied in China but also in other countries. This shows that China has become a source of ideas for the 21st century, he added.
“And these ideas, I believe, are an effect of the Chinese renaissance,” he said.