Experts praise China’s global governance role

China’s role in improving the global governance system by making full use of existing international organizations and constructing new platforms has been widely praised by experts.

As the biggest developing country and the second-largest economy in the world, China plays a crucial role in the global governance system. “On the one hand, China maintains the overall interests of developing countries. On the other hand, when viewing developmental problems, China holds a relatively objective view,” said Zhou Qiangwu, the director general of the International Economics and Finance Institute of the Ministry of Finance.

“China’s efforts in stabilizing world currencies and internationalizing the renminbi cannot be denied”, Zhou added.

The current global governance system, which originated from the agreements after World War II, has its positive sides, which should be affirmed for its dedication to world peace and development, he said.

“The absence of conflict on a global scale since World War II cannot be separated from the smooth functioning of the global governance system,” Zhou noted. “The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the two global financial institutions, benefit global development,” he added.

Yet in the current system, the rights of developing countries, especially China, are not fully respected, Zhou said.

For instance, China ranks as the third-largest shareholder in both the IMF and World Bank, after Japan, while the Chinese economy is two times larger than that of its Asian neighbor, he said. “That is why further reforming is needed so that the governance structure could reflect the reality.”

He Liping, director of the Institute of International Finance of Beijing Normal University, said that international organizations such as the IMF have been busy solving problems concerning their own reforms.

Also, “global organizations sometimes fail to meet regional demands, and this is when regional development banks such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank can play a complementary role”, said He, adding that international economic rules should also be adjusted to improve global governance.

“In the previous situation when the rules were set, financial crises did not occur as frequent as they do today.

“The main focus of the global economic rules lies in the monetary policy problems facing various countries.

“However, nowadays, the economic risks faced by a wide range of countries have greatly increased. Thus, global economic regulations should be altered accordingly,” he said.

Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Information Intelligence at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the global system of governance is greatly affected by political disorder and chaos.

“The refugee crisis and international terrorism are relevant to Western countries’ politics,” Zhang said. “Political difficulties in Western societies have bred conservatism in domestic polices, exclusivity in foreign policies and isolationism around the world, which give rise to confrontations between countries.”

The global governance system is in need of new impetus and new platforms, Zhang said.

China has always kept an open attitude in terms of perfecting global governance, furnishing a range of global mechanisms including the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, he said.

“It is also vital for Western countries to stick to the principle of ‘harmony with diversity’ and help build a global community of common destiny,” Zhang said.

Global organizations sometimes fail to meet regional demands, and this is when regional development banks ... can play a complementary role.” He Liping, director of the Institute of International Finance of Beijing Normal University