All in a day’s work: Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the opening ceremony of the B20 Summit ahead of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. — Reuters
MOSCOW: The fact that the G20 summit will be held in Hangzhou, China, reflects the global recognition of and respect for China’s giant economic success, a leading Russian economic expert has said.
“The international community admits that China has become a major economic power, which largely determines the economic development of the whole world,” Vyacheslav Kholodkov, head of the International Economic Organisations Department at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.
As the second-largest economy of the world, China has a strong impact over global economic processes, the economist said, adding that the performance of China’s stock markets and its import of energy resources exert a powerful influence on world markets.
Kholodkov also expressed the belief that the Western media today have exaggerated and distorted the existing problems with the Chinese economy.
“China’s economic success is like a thorn on the side of many Western politicians and journalists, because it shows that there are other more successful models besides the Western liberal economic model,” the expert noted.
In his opinion, the current problems plaguing China were those of structural adjustments and shifts in economic development pattern.
If previously China’s development had been driven mainly by exports, it is now shifting from an export-oriented development model to focusing on domestic demand, Kholodkov said.
Kholodkov saw “nothing dramatic” in such a development, as other countries that experienced similar problems have survived such transitional periods.
China’s GDP grew by 6.9% last year, a rate to be envied by many countries, according to Kholodkov.
China presents an example for many developing countries, including Russia, which are closely watching China’s experiences and following some of its trends in their political practices, he concluded. — China Daily/Asia News Network
Summit can be historic starting point for the world
President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama meet at the West Lake State Guest House in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Saturday. Wu Zhiyi / China Daily
The Austria-born American management philosopher Peter Drucker once attributed the absence of right-wing fanaticism in North America to the self-organizational ability of society, represented, first of all, by the thousands of well-managed business enterprises.
That point should be appreciated today, when, eight years after the 2008 global financial crisis, all major economic powers still cannot guarantee a sustainable recovery for the world.
The annual meeting of the G20 bears witness to the shared will and joint efforts of the leading developed and developing economies in the world. All countries have so far remained steadfast in their agreement to hold a defensive line for the globalist agenda. There has not been a full-scale trade war and competitive currency depreciations－at least not yet.
The global financial crisis has cast a very long shadow, with growing income inequality in many places and corporations holding onto their capital instead of investing, and judging from the rising protectionism, along with some ideologically-charged rhetoric, from various political forces, there are some who seem willing to set back or spoil the globalization process.
A genuine "mass flourishing" of businesses is needed to help the world both stay on the course of globalization and avoid the malaise that caused the last crisis.
That is why the G20 created, alongside its annual summit, a business leaders' meeting, called the Business 20. That is also why the G20 needs not just a business leaders' meeting, but also a distilled vision of common concerns and necessary actions, which is what President Xi Jinping delivered in his keynote speech at the B20 Summit on Saturday.
Drucker proposed that long-range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions. In his speech Xi urged all parties to prescribe remedies to the world's economic problems and explore new sources of growth and expand the space for development.
The foreign guests can see for themselves through Hangzhou, the host city of the G20 and B20 summits, how China has become a leader of growth, as the city is home to many new businesses and new management models.
As Xi said it is an unprecedented achievement for a country with such a large population to realize modernization. The more businesses are created, the more they spread from developed to under-developed areas. In the process, obsolete industries are phased out and new ones emerge, jobs are created, and cities such as Hangzhou become vibrant.
The same process can also prove true elsewhere in the world. - (China Daily)/ANN
China plays a key role in setting G20 agenda
The G20 summit meets against the backdrop of two interrelated global issues.First,since the international financial crisis global growth has been slow. Second, asa result social and geopolitical crises have persisted. China’s proposals for the G20 summit – an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive economy –simultaneously and in an integrated way address both issues.
China’s four proposals are inseparably connected:
Innovation, in technology and in management, logistics, skills and ideas, is indispensable for sustained economic development.
But innovation purely in ideas is insufficient to lead to sustained economic development. Advances in ICT technology, for example, had to be embodied in investment in internet and computer technologyto produce productivity gains. Therefore, the global economy must be invigorated through increased investment, new trade liberalisation agreements, new financial institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and modifications in global economic governance. This requires drawing on numerous resources in global economy and finance.
Development is most powerful if internationally integrated. Since Adam Smith founded modern economics it has been known that the most powerful force developing productivity is division of labour, which in a globalised economy necessarily includes international division of labour.Retreats into protectionism deeply damage the world economy. But advancing international division of labour requires not only legal trade and investment agreements but development of internationally integrated infrastructure making such trade possible and supporting international investment. Such integration highlights the importance of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’initiative,while China supports economic integration in Africa, Latin America, Europe and elsewhere.
Development must be inclusive both between and within countries.Failure of sections of the world’s population to benefit from economic development is dangerous politically. Impoverishment of sections of the population and social disintegration has led to terrorist organisations gaining support, andin some cases open warfare, in parts of Africa and the Middle East. Within advanced economies failure of parts of the population to gain from economic growth strengthens protectionist and xenophobic forces which threaten global economic integration and therefore global prosperity.
Success in developing innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive economic growth will therefore lessen geopolitical and social tensions.
China is in an unequalled position to give leadership on this G20 agenda not only theoretically but due to China’s practical achievements in dealing both with the international financial crisis and over the longer term.From 2007, the last year before the financial crisis, to 2015 China accounted for 46% of world growth measured at current exchange rates – compared to 22% for the second placed US.China was the world economy’s most powerful engine to face the international financial crisis, benefitting both advanced and developing economies.
World Bank data shows 83% of the world’s population still lives in developing countries. Economic development therefore remains the most pressing issue facing humanity. China, the world’s largest developing economy, increased its per capita GDP, the fundamental index of economic development, from 2007 to 2015 by 86% - the fastest of any G20 country.
China playsa key G20 agenda setting role because, in addition to these shorter term anti-crisis trends, China’s historical economic and social achievements are unprecedented.From 1978 onwards China experienced the most rapid economic growth in a major economy in human history. China lifted 728 million people from World Bank defined poverty, 83% of the reduction of those living in poverty in the world. This is greatest contribution of any country to human well-being.
But despite these achievements China’s stress on integrated inclusive growth means China has no conception it can successfully develop alone. Instead China advocates strengthening the G20’s role. G20 economies account for 85% of world GDP, including the largest advanced and developing economies. The G20 is therefore provides an unequalled forum to coordinate measures to deal with the world’s most pressing economic issues.
China’s proposals for an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive economy are therefore crucial not only for this year’s Hangzhou summit but a step towards the G20s strategic development.
By John Ross (People's Daily Online)
John Ross is Senior Fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.
G20 can unlock global economic potential
The 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit will kick off on Sunday and a related meeting, the Business 20, will be held this weekend. As China is the chair of this year's G20, expectations are running high though some still try to interpret the event through an ideological lens. But the fact that the global governance capability will be mobilized to its maximal extent at this year's summit may be a common consensus.
China sees G20 as a top item on its agenda and has strived to create favorable conditions for the summit. Some say too much attention has been put on G20. However, the positive significance of a successful G20 overweighs the negative effect. From the perspective of urban development, the summit has promoted Hangzhou's growth and image.
China is a unique member of G20. It is the world's second-largest economy and the largest developing country. It has excelled in some areas but the overall economic and social development is not as advanced as in some other countries. China's high speed development together with its experience, from both successes and mistakes, make us easier to find common ground with both developed nations and emerging markets.
China is sincere about promoting global governance and creating a win-win situation in resolving world economic issues. China's rise, to some extent, is the result of globalization. Chinese believe strengthening international cooperation is a global trend and are devoted to the win-win principle. We believe the G20 playing a greater role will benefit China and the world.
Compared to the time of the first G20 summit in 2008, the global economic issues have become more complicated and morale has taken a further beating. Eight years after the financial crisis, the developed nations have yet to walk out of the shadows and the emerging markets are facing increasingly grave challenges. G20 needs a passionate summit and the enthusiasm of the Chinese society will help make it happen.
There is still great potential in the global economy and the key is to redistribute resources more reasonably so that less developed regions can drive growth that benefits all sides. The same issue has also been haunting China. The country has been restructuring and developing through the process of reform. The exploration belongs as much to China as to the world.
Macroeconomics may not be the most popular stories. Some Western media tend to politicize the summit or sprinkle their coverage with gossip. The summit only takes two days and the topics proposed by China revolve around the economy. As the global economy is once again at a crossroad, we hope the media can make the call heard for an "Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive" world economy. Global Times
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