Research Update
28
JanSpeech at the 2020 Zagreb China-Croatia Top Think Tank Dialogue on “China-Croatia-Europe Friendship and Win-win Cooperation with Belt & Road” in Zagreb University, Croatia.
Former Chinese Ambassador and Director of Global Study Center of RUC
Dr. Yue Xiaoyong
Your Excellency Prof. Ivo Josipivic, Former President of Croatia,
Chinese Ambassador Your Excellency Mme. Xu Erwen,
Prof. Damir Boras, Rector of the University of Zagreb,
Mme. Ivana Zivkovic, Assistant Minister of MFEA,
Mr. Luka Burilovic, President of Croatian Chamber of Economy,
Prof. Yu Gang, Chairman and CEO of 111 Group,
Mr. Zhou Xuzhou, Chairman of Yuye Group,
Distinguished Friends, Teachers and fellow students,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all I would like to express my most hearty congratulations for the successful opening of the China-Croatia Top Think Tank Dialogue for “China-Croatia-Europe Friendship & Win-Win Cooperation with Belt & Road” in the University of Zagreb today, and my warm thanks for President Boras to kindly invite my colleagues and me here to attend. It is a real joint efforts of our Chinese Embassy, best Croatian friends and my Chinese friends and experts. I would thank your excellency Mr. Ivo Josipivic , former President of this great country for your leadership to initiate this dialogue. My thanks also go to my best friend Prof. Mao Zhenhua, distinguished Director of Macro-economic Institute and Forum in the NADS of RUC and founder of China’s Standard and Poor 500 Index firm “China Chengxin” Group. I may thank last but not least our Chinese Embassy’s most valuable support. Many thanks go to all the Chinese and Croatian participants and speakers who come to support us and share your views as to how to further enhance our already wonderful relations and cooperation between China with Croatia and Europe as a whole.
It is my great pleasure and honor to be attending this discussion also as a speaker and Senior Research Fellow of RUC, and talk about how to “Double Our Joint Efforts for Win-Win Cooperation and Shared Future” between our two peoples for peace and common prosperity of the world as well as our two great countries and two great continents. I am happy to have this opportunity to share my views about the global situation and stories of China in her opening-up and reform and development.
Before going any further, I would express my gratitude for Croatian people for your sympathy and support for the Chinese people in fighting the outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus now in a great national campaign under the wise leadership of our President Xi Jingping. Please joint me to express our deepest sadness and condolences for those who are stricken fatally by the virus with pray. We would thank Croatian friends for helping us together to purchase medical materials to donate and help my people in China especially in Hubei where the outbreak stroke earliest. Let us together pay our highest homage and respect for those fighting in the front line back in China against the virus.
From what I know, since the pneumonia outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus, the Chinese government has indeed taken the most comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures. Many of those measures go well beyond the requirements of the International Health Regulations (2005). We have full confidence and ability to win the battle against the outbreak. Acting with openness, transparency and in a responsible manner, China has provided timely updates of the outbreak and the genome sequence of the coronavirus. Such efforts are fully recognized and highly commended by the WHO and many countries. China has stayed in close communication and cooperation with the WHO. Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited China and discussed on the containment of the outbreak with the Chinese side. He applauded China's prevention and control efforts and expressed gratitude for China's great contribution to the world in fighting against the outbreak. China will continue to work with the WHO, Croatian and European friends to safeguard regional and global public health security.
I would also express congratulations to the teams of both China and US for signing the ”Economic and Trade Agreement Between the United and States of America and the People’s Republic of China, Phase One” on January 15 2020. It is a bilateral agreement from China keeping fully aware to be conducive to multilateral efforts for promoting global trade and win-win growth.
Ladies and gentleman,
In spite of all the difficulties and challenges, the momentum of reform and opening up and development in China is keeping on. The ourbreak of the novel coronavirus caused some new challenges for our economy too, but I am sure we in China will be able to overcome and bring the business back to normal quickly.
Looking upon the Chinese economy over the last decade, achievement is enormous. Up to last year of 2019 our total annual output had reached over 99 trillion RMB yuan ($14.4 trillion) and had for the first time obtained ten thousand US dollars per capita per annum. Our foreign trade had amounted to over 31.5 trillion RMB yuan ($4.6 trillion) with export growing by 5% and import 1.6%. Our trade with Belt And Road countries showed even better result with export expanding 10.8%. We provided 13 million new jobs for a population of over 1.4 billion in China.
We celebrated our National Day October 1st of 2019 . It was the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Grand celebrations held across the country especially in Beijing for great achievements made in those seven decades, and more importantly, the Chinese people are thinking hard about how to keep on uplifting our people’s life onto a new high. Our achievements would not have been possible without support and cooperation from all of you friends the world over certainly Croatians and Europeans included. Looking into the future, the Chinese people are confident as our President Xi Jinping in his 2020 New Year TV message has emphasized that the Chinese people will continue marching along the path of peaceful development, to carry on opening-up policy with win-win international cooperation and join our efforts with nations around the world to build up a shared future for all mankind.
Over the past seven decades, the Chinese government has insisted on the development path based on the real situation in China.We have kept on facilitating friendly relationship and cooperation with nations of the world based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence. We are proud that China through all its endeavors has turned from a poor and weak country into the second biggest economy in a remarkably short while, becoming the biggest industrial power and biggest nation of the commodity trade among all economies. Our people have started to see the bright light upon the horizon for the great Chinese national rejuvenation, and we know there is still a long way to go to complete our national modernization and we shall continue to learn from you the great Croatian people, and peoples of Europe and around the world. Looking into the future, opportunities are bumper but not without risks and challenges. More hard work is called for.
The global situation facing us now is not very clear or certain in the way that on the one hand, peace, development and cooperation is still in the main. The will and strength of peoples of the world for peace and common development are prevailing. On the other, the world is yet a secure and tranquil one. There remain not only geopolitical insecurity, instability and uncertainty, but also problems concerning global trade and economic governess, climate change, environmental deterioration, international terrorism, public health, food safety, etc. In fact, with bilateral trade and economic agreement phase one between China and US reaching, a prove that dialogue works, international community still needs to guard against unilateralism and protectionism and double our efforts to drive global trade talk in a constructive and mutual respect way. In this context, I highly appreciate political, business and academic leaders on both China and Croatia to take initiative to start this Dialogue to help find sound ideas and solutions for our peoples and the world. Your leadership last year in guiding 17 plus one process and your Presidency for EU first half year of 2020 have been and will continue to be serving our two countries and continents best for all your wisdom and courage to further our mutual beneficial cooperation.
Ladies and gentleman,
The world is at crossroad. Two choices are laid here, to keep national economies open with win-win cooperation, or to close door and build walls; to enhance international governess through multilateralism or to weaken global society and unity by unilateralism and dialogue; to envisage future of mankind by being caring and inclusiveness, or being neglecting and exclusiveness. Our choice lies always on multilateralism with opening up and mutual respect. The International system based on rules with the United Nation at its core stands as the cornerstone for world peace, security and stability. Maintaining the core position of the United Nations in international affairs and the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its heart is the only way to meet the global challenges. We would also see a greater role played by constructive regional and institutional forces, such as the European Union(EU) first and foremost as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Group Twenty(G20). By mobilizing just, rational and positive factors in the world, let all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, join hands on an equal footing. China has been and will always be a firm builder, contributor and defender for world peace, security, stability and development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In discussing the risks and opportunities of the future, we need to take a look at what is going on in this globe in a more rational and sober way. Globalization is in many ways both an achievement and a natural result owing to long historical efforts by human beings, including constant strengthening of communications, cooperation, scientific and technological innovations and industrial revolution. Globalization has made the world market bigger, more open and nations mutual connecting closer, people’s exchanges and mutual learning easier and faster. In short, great potential for wealth are tapped and unleashed. Meanwhile, globalization has also incurred adjustments with “creative disruption”, which should be managed and led to a balanced development and opportunities shared. As we have seen all these years in the world the greater imbalance of economic development, the sharper contradiction between wealth creation and distribution and the weakness of global governance. Many countries are affected, big or small, rich or poor. More attention should be paid to those problems now in particular when the the global economy recovery has been weak for quite some years already. The world growth and distribution gap in some regions are even getting worse. In short, the real and bigger risk is how we respond and act.
I believe that all nations shall work together to push the globalization onto a path for a more inclusive, fair, sustainable world economy, and shape international relations into a new mutual-beneficial and win-win mode. In this regard, Belt and Road initiative is indeed a very good try or effort we can work upon. The Chinese government and business realm will continue to support and participate the initiative and will double efforts for achieving greater results.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
European people can rest assured that China's foreign policy will keep in mind how we started in the very beginning and keep a firm course. We will continue to treat peoples and countries equally around the world with sincerity and care and advocating mutual assistance. In planning its future development, China will continue to advance reform and opening-up, maintain stability and continuity by firmly maintaining world peace and promote common prosperity. Here are some major policy aspects:
---- China will stick to the path of peaceful development. We will enhance our independent foreign policy of peace, safeguard the national interests, and promote friendly exchanges and cooperation with peoples the world over. We will continue to oppose ourselves to any power politics and will refrain from interfering into others' internal affairs. We will never seek hegemony or expansion.
---- China will uphold principles of equality and mutual benefit. In its practice of international exchanges, China would respect the social system and development path independently chosen by the people of all countries themselves. The Chinese people are ready to share development experience with friends and partners and promote mutual learning and assistance. China has not attached and will never do in future any political conditions to its foreign aid.
---- China will continue to maintain international fairness and justice. China will as always and as our three European policy documents emphasized, attache great importance to Europe Union and our relations with the whole Europe. There are wide and strong consensus in China that ties between us and Europe is of great strategic significance. The Chinese government and people are determined to keep on in the new era our comprehensive strategic partnership and raise our cooperation to a new high.
---- China is committed to building an open world economy and promoting globalization conducive to world peace and common development. We will always push on its own development through listening, consulting and caring in order to foster a more open, inclusive and cooperative global development environment.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the face of the world economic situation after the international financial crisis, the international community has taken effective measures. In order to enhance those measures, to set the right course to enhance confidence, the Chinese government has called for further actions:
Firstly, to stick to reform and innovation and further tap potential of growth. We are engaged in advancing stronger structural reform to achieve high-quality growth by expanding digital economy, promoting connectivity and improving social security. We also encourage our international partners to take more action need for better business environment, respect, protect and encourage innovation through international cooperation.
Secondly, more joint actions in improving global governance. International community should strengthen the multilateral trade system and give more push for reforms of the World Trade Organization (WTO). We should stress the need to ensure that the financial safety net has enough resources, and that the global financial architecture has fairer representation. The Paris Agreement on climate change should be implemented and energy, environmental and digital governance improved.
Thirdly, take more initiative for solving development bottlenecks. China's proposal for jointly building the Belt and Road aims to unleash driving force for growth, realize market alignment and incorporate more countries and regions into the common prosperity. Major economies should continue to prioritize development in economic policy coordination and increase development input.
Fourthly, uphold the spirit of partnership and address differences. Countries are different in their development stages, it is normal for them to have different interests and ideas. The key in strengthening cooperation is to insist on equality and consultation to expand common grounds while handling differences respectfully to build up consensus.
China like many countries also faces ahead many challenges and difficulties, old and new. Yet we believe in unity, learning and hard-working with confidence to strengthen international cooperation. The Chinese economy looking from long perspective is in a stable and positive track, transforming itself from high-speed growth to high-quality one, from over depending on foreign trade or external driving into domestic demands driving. The present new difficulties caused by the novel coronasvirus will be tackled and got over, the whole economy will come back on normal track soon.
In fact, strategic opportunities provided by the Chinese economy are enormous. It has contributed over 30 percent to world growth for many years, the largest contributor to world growth. China's GDP grew by 6.1 percent year-on-year in 2019. The resilient Chinese economy has great potential still and its growing affluence of 1.4 billion people will continue to give enormous demand. In the next 15 years, China's imports of goods and services are expected to exceed $30 trillion US dollars and $10 trillion US dollars respectively.
China's digital economy and other emerging sectors are also fast growing. Innovation is the hallmark. Decisive achievement has been made in the fight against poverty. Since 2013, over 80 million rural residents have been lifted out of poverty. Ecological and environmental governance has been notably strengthened and environmental conditions improved. Comprehensively governing the party with strict discipline has made the ruling CPC stronger and won an great achievement in its fight against corruption.
In the years to come, China will take new measures to further deepen reform, open wider to the outside world and promote bigger cooperation:
We are to expand access to investment markets. We have released the 2019 edition of the negative list on foreign investment, with the focus on greater openness in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and services. We are setting up six new pilot free trade zones, open a new section of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, and speed up exploration of building a free trade port in southern Hainan Province.
Greater expanding of imports is coming. Our overall tariff level is being further brought down with efforts being made in removing non-tariff trade barriers. We will slash institutional costs in imports. By holding the second China International Import Expo, we are importing more high-quality agricultural products, manufactured goods and services that are competitive overseas.
Fresh efforts will be taken to strengthen intellectual property rights protection. Our business environment is to be further improved. New laws for foreign investment has taken effect starting on Jan. 1 of 2020, including a punitive compensation mechanism for intellectual property infringement. More stringent civil and criminal laws have been set up to deliver better IP protection.
Equal treatment shall be extended to all foreign investors. China will lift all foreign investment restrictions beyond the negative list for all types of businesses registered in China in the post-establishment phase. A complaint mechanism will be taken in for foreign companies to air their grievances.
Greater drives are planned to advance trade talks. We are pushing for accelerating the negotiations on a China-European Union investment agreement and the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. At present, China will pay more attention to the implementation of the policy of opening to the outside world.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This Dialogue of Top Think Tank of China and Croatia serves a real leadership for both sides for our future expanded exchanges and cooperation in science, humanity and public policy studies in the lunar new year and new decade of win-win opportunities. Let us join hands to seize the moment and build a community with a shared future for peoples of China, Croatia, the whole Europe and the world.
Thank you.