China is biggest developing country in the world – Ambassador

The Ambassador of China to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjian, speaks to Daily Trust on the occasion of his country’s 70th anniversary as a Peoples Republic and what Nigeria can learn from the Chinese experience, among other issues…

China is today celebrating its 70th anniversary as a People's Republic. How has the journey been?

Well, we are very proud of what we have achieved in the past seven decades. You know, when the People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1st, 1949, China was one of the poorest and most backward countries in the world, but after 70 years of hard work, we Chinese have brought lots of changes to the country by creating an unprecedented, miraculous development in world history.

Take the economic growth, for the first three decades, the annual GDP growth rate was 4.4 percent, but in the last four decades it averaged 9.5 percent. In 1978, China’s GDP, as a share of the world total, was a mere 1.8 percent but today it is around 16 percent. So China is now the second largest economy in the world.

On people’s living standard, it also improved a lot. Life expectancy in 1949 was around 35 years but last year, 2018, it reached 77 years. These days, people are also talking about ‘Made in China,’ but in 1949, we couldn’t make even a tractor, a tank or an automobile. Today, China is the top manufacturer of the world. So we really have achieved something in economic and social development.

What about relationship with the rest of the world?

On external relations, during the first year of the New Republic, there were 18 countries that entered relations with the People’s Republic of China, today we have diplomatic relations with 180 countries. China has been playing a more and more positive role in world affairs and global prosperity. That said, China still remains the biggest developing country in the world. We are still at the primary stage of socialism. The economic aggregate is big, but when divided by 1.4 billion, it is still very modest. Even the per capita GDP, China has yet to reach the world average, the average of East Asia and the Pacific.

In Africa, in terms of per capita GDP we are behind African countries like Mauritius, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea. So for us, Chinese, to enable the 1.4 billion people to live a comfortable life, we still have a long way to go. So we have achieved something, but as we are taking stock of what we have achieved, the most important thing we think, is to have found the right path for the development of China. That’s socialism with China’s characteristics under the leadership of the communist party.

Moving forward we will pursue the path that suits China’s national conditions and to face all the challenges to deliver even more outcome for the benefit of the Chinese people and contribute more to the world.

How much should Africa expect from China in terms of investment and building human capacity, in the next 10 years, for instance?

China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future. We are good brothers, friends and partners. And we see each other as opportunities for development. Africa’s development has contributed a lot to China’s development in the past decades. And I believe China’s development is also good news and an opportunity for Africa’s development.

Take investment as you just mentioned, 20 years ago, in 2000, China’s investment in Africa was less than $1 billion. Today, it is well over $110 billion. And trade, in 2000 was around $10 billion and last year it was well over $200 billion. And for 10 consecutive years, China has been the largest trade partner of Africa. We see great potentials in the investment cooperation. Why? Because we understand that African countries like Nigeria are trying to attract more foreign direct investment. We appreciate that effort.

According to Chinese own experience, we benefitted a lot from FDI to China. I should say, since China opened its doors, after the reform and open door in 1978, China has attracted more than $2 trillion FDI and that helped a lot in our economic development. So we think Africa’s pursuit in attracting more and more Foreign Direct Investment is good for both Africa and its international partners. And for China, the value chain is changing and more and more Chinese companies are now climbing up the value chain.

So nowadays, every year a huge sum of outbound investments are from China. And Chinese industries are relocating to the neighbouring countries, to African countries. Last year that number reached I think $130 billion. And since 2002, until last year, on average, every year $85 billion is from China investing in the world. So with more and more enabling environment in Africa, and in Nigeria in particular, and with more Chinese investors aware of these industries, I see great opportunities in this area. I am very positive about cooperation in this area because we are working with African countries within the FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) framework to facilitate Africa’s industrialization through investment, cooperation and capacity building in human resource development.

In China we always say, to build the nest to attract the phoenix. So the nest is becoming better and better. I believe more phoenix, including from China, will fly to Africa, including Nigeria.

How is the trade friction between the United States and China affecting your country in particular and the rest of the world in general?

You see, for the first half of the year, China’s GDP grew at the rate of 6.3 percent. It is still very strong and China’s trade with the world increased 3.9 percent and it is still increasing. China’s trade with Africa increased around 20 percent and with Nigeria I think it is around 22 percent. So China’s trade relations with the outside world is still very strong, and even the US investment to China during the first five months still increased 1.5 percent. It is still higher than the average of the last two years.

The economic and trade friction is something we don’t want to see because it will benefit no one. China and the US will suffer from it and now it is becoming more and more apparent that it is going to be a drag on the world economy. So what we want is multilateralism, not unilateralism, not protectionism. And I think on the 24th of this month President (Muhammadu) Buhari, during his UN speech, is also championing multilateralism. We believe there is a lot of things for countries in the world to

In 2000, China’s investment in Africa was less than $1 billion. Today, it is well over $110 billion. And trade, in 2000 was around $10 billion and last year it was well over $200 billion. And for 10 consecutive years, China has been the largest trade partner of Africa.