China to maintain development momentum towards an open world economy

Note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs."

In a congratulatory letter to this year’s Understanding China Conference, which attracted some six hundred politicians, strategists, scholars and entrepreneurs from around the globe, Chinese President Xi Jinping once again stated that economic globalization is an irreversible trend as the interests of all countries are becoming increasingly entwined and the fates of all nations are increasingly interdependent.

The fourth Understanding China Conference is held in Guangzhou, October 26-27, 2019. [Photo: VCG]

This view is conducive to building international consensus and leading the global economy onto the right path. It has won broad support from participants such as the former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme who said the world's science and technology, personnel, and enterprises have become deeply integrated through globalization, forming a powerful force driving this process, and that it is impossible to reverse this trend by using political forces.

As the world’s second largest economy, China is not only a beneficiary of, but also a contributor to globalization. Since China started to reform and open up its market to the outside world in 1978—especially after it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the country has become a key component of the global supply chain as well as the “world’s factory.” While its own economy undergoes rapid development, China firmly advocates the development of an open world economy, sharing opportunities and interests with other countries to create win-win partnerships.

Since 2006, China has remained the biggest contributor to global growth. It has also maintained its stance of firmly safeguarding trade liberalization and investment facilitation with its markets increasingly wide open despite rising anti-globalization sentiment especially over the past few years. The country jumped 15 places to 31^st on the World Bank’s latest ease of doing business ranking. As the World Bank’s senior economist Marcin Piatkowski pointed out at the conference, the continued optimization of the business environment demonstrates China's determination to further open up to the rest of the world.

At this year’s Understanding China Conference, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) also became a hot topic. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, said that BRI infrastructure projects including the Gwadar Port had greatly improved the well-being of the people of Pakistan and created a great number of job opportunities for local residents. Former Foreign Minister of Tajikistan, Rashid Alimov, also noted that it has been China’s infrastructure investments that are helping his country undergo a transformation from an importing country to an exporting country. All these examples have demonstrated that China’s efforts are helping more countries and regions to integrate into economic globalization, developing a win-win approach.

President Xi Jinping has pointed out that any attempt to channel the waters in the ocean back into isolated lakes and creeks was simply not possible as it runs counter to the trend of history. China’s renewed commitment to reform and opening-up will pump further growth momentum into the world economy, pushing economic globalization toward a more open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial future.