Xi addresses Davos forum for the first time to advance global growth, governance
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Jan. 17 called for joint efforts to chart the course of economic globalization and forge new models of global growth, cooperation, governance and development.
Xi made the remarks while addressing the opening plenary of the 2017 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He is the first Chinese head of state to attend the Davos meetings in Switzerland.
Amid a rising tide of global concerns for protectionism, antiglobalization sentiment and other economic and political issues, Xi’s presence with Chinese wisdom and experiences at Davos bears tremendous historic significance, said WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.
GUIDING GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE
In his keynote speech, Xi stressed the importance of adapting to and guiding economic globalization and delivering its benefits to all.
Blaming economic globalization for the world’s problems is inconsistent with reality and unhelpful to solving the problems, Xi said, underlining the need to act proactively and manage economic globalization appropriately, so as to release its positive impact and rebalance its process.
Xi called on all countries to follow the general trend, proceed from their respective national conditions, and embark on the right pathway of integrating into economic globalization with the right pace.
He stressed the need to strike a balance between efficiency and equity to ensure that different countries, different social strata and different groups of people all share the benefits of economic globalization. CHINA’S COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL GROWTH
Xi pledged that China’s development will continue to offer opportunities to business communities in other countries.
In the coming five years, China is expected to import $8 trillion of goods, attract $600 billion of foreign investment, and make $750 billion of outbound investment, said the president, adding that Chinese tourists will make 700 million overseas visits.
China will keep its door wide open, Xi also told the forum, voicing hope that other countries will also keep their door open to Chinese investors and keep the playing field level for them.
China, he said, will advance the building of the Free Trade Area of the Asia- Pacific and negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to form a global network of free trade arrangements.
China has no intention to boost its trade competitiveness by devaluing the RMB, still less will it launch a currency war, Xi stressed.
“China has been a locomotive of growth, especially for the emerging world, but really for the whole world,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS, a consulting firm. “More positive perspective of China is an accurate one.”
On the progress of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi told the audience that China’s circle of friends along the Belt and Road is growing bigger, and Chinese investment in the countries along the routes has surpassed $50 billion in the past three years.
Over 100 countries and international organizations have given warm responses and support to the initiative, and more than 40 have signed cooperation agreements with China, said the Chinese president, who put forward the initiative in 2013.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies have launched a number of major projects in the countries along the routes, spurring the economic development of these countries and creating many local jobs, Xi noted.
The Belt and Road Initiative, envisioned as an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, originated in China, but it has delivered benefits well beyond its borders, he said.
China plans to host a Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in Beijing this May to brainstorm on interconnected development, the president announced.
The upcoming forum will explore ways to address regional and global economic problems, generate fresh energy for interconnected development, and ensure that the Belt and Road Initiative delivers greater benefits to the people of the countries involved, Xi said.
Noting that world history shows that the road of human civilization has never been a smooth one, and that mankind has made progress by surmounting difficulties, he encouraged the international community to join hands and rise to the challenge.