Massage chairs are manufactured in a workshop of a company in Pingyang county, Wenzhou, east
China’s Zhejiang province, May 19, 2021. The chairs will be exported to Belt and Road countries.
(Photo by Su Qiaojiang/People’s Daily Online)
Since the beginning of reform and opening-up, China has pursued a fundamental policy of
opening up and embraced economic globalization proactively. It is creating opportunities for the
rest of the world while achieving its own development, opening up new horizons amid benign
interaction with the world and on the road to win-win results.
In just decades, China has grown into the world’s second largest economy, largest trading nation in
goods, and largest destination for foreign direct investment. Besides, it is also the largest trading
partner for some 120 countries and regions, contributing 30 percent to global growth for years.
China’s economy and the world economy reinforce each other.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed and actively advanced by China has been turned
from a vision to reality and from a concept to concrete actions after years of joint efforts made by
all parties relevant. It has become the world’s broadest-based and largest platform for international
cooperation.
A World Bank report said that the BRI, when fully implemented, could increase global trade by
6.2 percent and global real income by 2.9 percent. The joint construction of the initiative will
bring dividends to and create development momentum for the economic growth of both
participating countries and the world.
After the global outbreak of COVID-19, which has severely impacted the world economy, China
became the first major economy to have controlled the pandemic and realized positive economic
growth, injecting strong energy into global recovery.
Last year, the bilateral trade of goods between China and the U.S. grew 8.8 percent, and the EU’s
exports and imports to China went up by 2.2 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively. In the first
quarter of this year, China’s trade volume with Belt and Road countries totaled 2.5 trillion yuan
($390 billion), up 21.4 percent.
China’s huge economic vitality is a strong pillar for the rapid global recovery, and the country’s
increasing level of opening up is also accelerating the economic pickup of the world from the
pandemic. The stable Chinese economy is of more and more significance for the world when the
latter is facing increasing uncertainties and instability.
As China is entering a new development stage, it will follow a new development philosophy and
foster a new development paradigm to promote high-quality development. Continuing to
restructure its economy and further improving its development quality and efficiency, the country
will offer more development opportunities for the rest of the world.
The new development stage is playing a more and more important role in China’s socialist
modernization. As the country further opens up its sci-tech cooperation, its technological
innovation results are expected to benefit more countries and people. The emerging industries and
businesses in the country will create new areas of growth for the world economy.
China is a country with 1.4 billion people, and its per capita GDP has exceeded $10,000. The
people’s increasingly higher demand for better life quality is driving a consumption upgrade and
creating huge consumption space and potential, building a broader space and a better business
environment for foreign manufacturers and investors.
China is orderly advancing its work of peaking carbon emission and achieving carbon neutrality.
Its efforts to promote green development will offer more opportunities and platforms for the green
economy of the world and global climate cooperation.
China’s pursuit of high-quality development brings the world multi-faceted opportunities that
cover many aspects. The country’s new development will better integrate the country into the
world and make larger contribution to common prosperity.
China is always a major promoter of mutual opening up despite the headwinds brought by anti-
globalization and trade protectionism. It will always work to make economic globalization more
open, inclusive and balanced for the benefits of all.
As China steadily moves toward the global center stage, it will actively promote and improve
global governance and offer more and better public products for the international society.
The high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation will better help the world meet
challenges through unity, release development potential and recover economic and social
development.
(Zhu Feng is a professor with the Institute of International Relations, Nanjing University.)
Source: People’s Daily
