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Why I confidently believe China can deal with every challenge it faces

Illustration: Xia Qing/Global Times

Among the books predicting that China has reached its peak and is in a period of upcoming decline, the first one I remember was by Gordon Chang. This goes back probably over 20 years, and the book was titled
The Coming Collapse of China. He was even quite specific, saying that by 2011, China would have collapsed. Obviously, that turned out to be dead wrong.

The most recent book is
Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China. It basically says that China is facing a number of very difficult challenges, such as lack of consumer confidence, issues with neighbors, an aging population, property problems, underperforming state-owned enterprises and others that China may struggle to address.

Let’s start with why I’m confident that China can and will deal with these challenges. First, China’s track record speaks for itself when it comes to overcoming challenges. China has lifted 850 million people out of poverty without engaging in any external wars, which is quite impressive.

Anyone who questions China’s ability to meet the challenges they face is not looking at history. There isn’t any major country on the globe today that has faced the challenges that China has faced from 1949 up until the present and delivered more effectively. Moreover, over the same period, China has been able to grow its GDP to a level significantly higher than any other major country.

If you look at the underlying assumption between the books that are critical of China, they assert that China’s leadership is not going to be flexible, talented or courageous enough to deal with these changes.

However, if you tear apart the way China governs itself, it’s like a very successful corporation. China has a strong leader, and an equivalent of a board of directors to provide oversight. China has people who have advanced meritocratically, based on their education and accomplishments in the outside world. China has a long-term strategic view that gets converted into industrial policy. China has been very effective at prioritizing resources and initiatives that are most successful in the marketplace.

Another advantage that China has is that the best and brightest in China aspire to government service. The people who hold senior positions in government are highly educated, have been tested in various professional settings, and have been successful.

Moreover, from the 24-point action plan that came out of the State Council to the commitment President Xi Jinping has made to a number of visiting CEOs, it’s evident that China is serious about opening up its market and reforming.

In addition, the people are behind the Chinese government, and Confucian values provide a level of identity and cohesion to the Chinese people.

While some Westerners say Confucian values are a thing of the past, my experience with young Chinese people in America and China shows that these values are very much alive. Delving deeper into Confucian values, my favorite is “work hard to get ahead.” Self-improvement through hard work and education is prioritized not for individual benefit, but for the betterment of family and society.

In conclusion, China is the country with a proven track record of achieving goals, governance led by high-quality leaders and strategic decision-making that yields results through effective execution. Additionally, China boasts a cohesive, large population that is supportive of national goals. The reality is that the domestic market in China consists of 1.4 billion people. China does not necessarily rely on the rest of the world to develop a strong economy; rather, it needs to boost consumer confidence so that people spend more in China and save less. This is a much easier challenge than attempting to change fundamental behaviors.

The author is a speaker on China-US relations and author of the book Powerful, Different, Equal: Overcoming the misconceptions and differences between China and the US. [email protected]

Forward-thinking strategies proposed at two sessions as China-proposed BRI embarks on high-quality development for next decade

Cargo ships dock at and leave the Taicang Port in East China’s Jiangsu Province on January 24, 2024. Photo: VCG

At the ongoing two sessions, the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, hot topics that relate to both China and the world have been proposed and discussed. One particular highlight is the discussions over the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has just marked its decade of anniversary last year and is now embarking on the next decade of a new journey for high-quality development.

Over the past decade, the joint construction of the BRI has delivered prosperous results for participating countries. Thanks to the joint initiative, many developing countries have gained increasing access to global markets, eased their financing problems for much-needed infrastructure projects, filled an “infrastructure deficit,” strengthened their comparative advantages, and boosted their capacity for independent economic development, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.

Members and deputies of the two sessions, many of whom have direct experience and participation in BRI projects have noted how the initiative has brought about changes to participating countries over the past decade.

On this special occasion, they have also proposed strategies across various sectors, spanning from personnel training to connectivity and green development, while vowing to embrace high-quality development, which aligns with the future trajectory of the initiative.

Talent matters

In addition to daily lectures, one of the most important works for Zhang Shuibo, a professor of the College of Management and Economics of Tianjin University, was to lead his team to carry out major research projects to serve domestic enterprises engaged in the BRI, covering investment and financing, operations, logistics, international engineering contracting among other aspects, based on cultivating high-end talent ahead of “going global.”

Over the past two years, Zhang has held training courses for dozens of enterprises and trained thousands of international engineering management talents.

As a deputy to the 14th NPC, one very important subject for Zhang this year relates to the joint construction of the BRI, he told the Global Times during the two sessions.

As the initiative pursues high-quality development in the next decade, one key aspect needs to be strengthened is the personnel training, with Luban Workshop program being a core.

The workshop, named after Lu Ban, an ancient Chinese woodcraft master, is a Chinese vocational workshop program aims to promote vocational education exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world committed to developing urgently needed technical talents.

The joint construction of the BRI is shifting from scale-oriented development to high-quality development, which poses higher demands on talent, Zhang said.

“To address this, we have introduced a series of policies to promote the cultivation of local talent, aiming to better benefit local development and ensure the efficient operation of projects,” Zhang said.

Luban Workshop Research and Promotion Centers are established in local technical colleges or other educational institutions, and local enterprises are also involved and receive certain subsidies from the government for the training. Currently, there are approximately 200 Luban Workshops worldwide, according to Zhang.

“The standardization and high quality of the curriculum is needed for the next stage of development,” Zhang said.

Specifically, when collaborating with schools in various countries, our curriculum design should be adjusted and optimized according to the industrial development of each country and the needs of Chinese enterprises in countries of the joint construction of the BRI, Zhang said.

However, other challenges persist against the backdrop of the growing complexity of the international situation, with rising geopolitical tensions and a slow economic recovery worldwide.

To address these difficulties, Zhang proposed to ramp up support the BRI by increasing the loans of Chinese yuan in better response to the fiscal difficulties faced by many countries and their insufficient foreign exchange reserves.

“By doing so, it will not only help the countries’ development but also promoting the internationalization of the yuan,” the NPC deputy said.

Stronger connectivity

In jointly building the BRI, connectivity is crucial. Among key projects, railways, as the backbone of integrated transportation systems, are an important component of infrastructure connectivity, as the initiative is deepening its high-quality development, said Liu Zhenfang, chairman of the board of the China State Railway Group Co, who is also a deputy to the 14th NPC, in its proposal read by the Global Times.

The 142.3-kilometer-long high-speed line, connecting Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta and the fourth largest city Bandung, serves as a flagship project and successful example of developing countries in the region working together toward modernization.

Meanwhile, the China-Laos Railway, another iconic project, has become a game changer for the Southeast Asian country, opening it up to greater economic opportunities.

Few transportation networks rival the cross-continental China-Europe freight train in terms of its significant transportation capacity and its contribution to economic and trade growth, bridging the East and the West.

As of the end of January, the China-Europe freight train had operated over 84,000 trips cumulatively, reaching 219 cities in 25 countries across Europe, according to media reports, highlighting its role as a stabilizer of the global supply chain, particularly amid the Red Sea crisis.

Liu said in his proposal that in 2024 that China Railway will fully leverage a coordination mechanism linked to the China-Europe freight train, continuously enhance the transportation capacity of key ports and corridors, expand the operation of scheduled freight trains along the entire route, and promote the cross-continental cargo train to develop toward higher quality, better efficiency, and increased safety.

Moreover, Liu pledged to intensify exchanges this year with international cooperation organizations and foreign railway institutions to promote the internationalization of Chinese railway standards.

In addition to connectivity, green is also an important part of the high-quality development for the BRI. Wang Tongzhou, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and chairman of China Communications Construction Co, proposed to further support and encourage research and development and the widespread application of green technologies in order to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption across the entire industry chain under the BRI. “That includes creating a number of exemplary green projects in promoting green development in the joint construction of the BRI,” Wang said.

The achievements under the BRI have provided clear evidence, paving an auspicious path toward the high-quality development of the initiative.

Over the past decade, the Chinese government has signed over 240 cooperation agreements promoting the joint construction of the BRI with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations. This has resulted in a multitude of cooperative projects, establishing the broadest and largest international cooperation platform in the world, said Liu Jieyi, spokesperson for the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, said at a press conference on March 3.

Looking ahead, the prospects for the high-quality construction of the BRI are promising, said Liu.

China has not collapsed in past because of ‘China collapse’ theory; it will not peak now because of ‘Peak China’ rhetoric: Xi

A view of Shanghai’s Lujiazui area, a major financial zone in China Photo: VCG

China’s development has gone through all sorts of difficulties and challenges to get to where it is today. It has not collapsed in the past because of the “China collapse” theory, and it will not peak now because of the “Peak China” rhetoric, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday.

Xi made the remarks when he met with representatives of the American business, strategic and academic communities in Beijing on the day.

The meeting came amid a series of high-level events, including the just-concluded China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing and the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia in South China’s Hainan Province, all of which demonstrate the country’s commitment to expanding high-level opening-up and its willingness to enhance cooperation, in contrast to the unilateral moves taken by the Biden administration under the call to “decouple.”

“China’s economy is healthy and sustainable,” Xi said, noting that China’s growth rate was one of the fastest among major economies last year.

Xi said China is planning and implementing a series of major measures to comprehensively deepen reform, foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, and provide broader development space for international businesses, including US companies.

In the current situation, the common interests of China and the US are not diminishing, but increasing. Whether in traditional areas such as trade and agriculture or emerging areas such as climate change and artificial intelligence, China and the US should be boosters of each other’s development, not drags on the process.

Promoting the recovery of the world economy and resolving international and regional hotspot issues requires China and the US to coordinate and cooperate, show the mind-set of great powers and take up the roles of great powers, Xi said.

Chairman of the National Committee on US-China Relations Evan G. Greenberg; Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council; Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and CEO of private equity firm Blackstone, and Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, were among the US business executives attending the meeting.

The US companies appreciated China’s recent introduction of a series of important initiatives to further reform and opening-up, expressing their optimism about the prospects for the country’s economic development. They said that they will unswervingly continue to explore the Chinese market, and develop a long-term close cooperative relationship with China.

Global Times

China’s development of new quality productive forces injects new impetus to global growth: FM

A visitor looks at a robot arm displayed at the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), which kicked off in Beijing on November 28, 2023. Among the exhibitors, 26 percent are international companies, with 36 percent of that group coming from Europe and the US. Global companies from more than 50 countries and regions are participating in the event. Photo: VCG

China’s development of new quality productive forces is creating new products, new technology and new business models, which will broaden the room for global economic sharing and mutual development, injecting impetus into the world’s development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.

High-quality development is the first and foremost task of transforming China into a modern socialist country in all respects, while developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement for promoting high-quality growth in China, Lin said.

The key for developing new quality productive forces is enhancing the country’s self-innovation capability. Driven by the strategy of innovation-driven development, China has consolidated a series of achievements in areas including aviation, quantum computing and nuclear power. Notable progress has been made in developing China into an innovation country. All of these will not only better meet China’s domestic needs but also bring benefits to other countries and peoples, Lin said.

The spokesperson gave the example of clean energy technology. China is firmly committed to promoting energy reform, with the development of clean energy listed as a priority.

In 2023, a total of 510 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity was newly installed around the world in 2023, with China contributing over 50 percent. Meanwhile, China has produced and sold more than 60 percent of the world’s new energy vehicles, official data showed.

Chinese clean energy enterprises are actively investing in Southeast Asia, with Vietnam already been a major export destination for China’s wind power technology and Thailand an important photovoltaic product manufacturing base. China is also supporting Middle Eastern and African countries’ energy transition, Lin added.

In addition, China’s development of new quality productive forces in digital economy and artificial intelligence has played an important role in driving global growth and boosting technological reform in many countries, Lin said.

In 2023, China successfully achieved major social and economic development goals, and its contribution to global GDP growth reached over 30 percent, Lin said, noting that China will continue to promote high-level opening up in 2024 to create favorable conditions for developing new quality productive forces.

Global Times