Chen Wenling: China Can Act as the “Stability Anchor” for the World Orders and Rules

On May 20th, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) hosted the Fourth China and Globalization Forum in Beijing. At the sub-forum of “What can China do for the world?”, Chen Wenling, chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) and expert of the CCG Academic Committee, pointed out that China can be the stability anchor for the world orders and rules, the perpetual motion machine for the world economic and social development and the thinker who provides new ideas to the world.

On the topic of What China Can Do for the World, Chen Wenling expressed the following three viewpoints.

First of all, the world is now in a very difficult period and is standing at a crossroad. We need to answer the following five questions in order to understand the direction of the world’s future development. Is the world open or closed? Is the world going forward or backward? Will the world become more unilateral or bilateral? Is it overbearing or kingly? Will the world build a common community with a shared future for mankind or put the interests of one country above the interests of other countries? These problems can not be avoided by China or any other country.

Secondly, what can China do for the economic globalization? I think the answer can be summarized in nine words:

China can act as a stability anchor

China is the stability anchor for maintaining world peace. China has adopted a peaceful approach to resolve different issues, including the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea issue, and the China-Japan-South Korea relations. When handling the China-U.S. relations, China has always used its wisdom to maintain the conflicts with the US but without a complete break, which is not easy.

China is also the anchor of economic development. China has become the biggest driving force for world economic growth since 2008. If China does a good job in its economic development, manages its own affairs well, and ensures that China’s 1.39 billion people can live a happy life, this will be the biggest contribution to the world.

China is the stability anchor for the world orders and rules. In general, China has maintained strategic strength, strategic endurance, strategic planning capabilities, and strategic countermeasures when handling international issues.

China is a perpetual motion machine for the world economic and social development.

For example, the public good of the Belt and Road offered by China has actually brought tremendous development opportunities and benefits to the countries concerned. Another good example is China’s poverty alleviation. In the past several decades, China has lifted 76% of the global poor population out of poverty and in the next three years, it will strive for zero poverty, which is not only a great achievement for a country with a population of 1.39 billion but also a great contribution to the world. China is now embracing the future and has created new business models, manufacturing industries, new service pattern for the 21st century. Furthermore, China has proposed the Chinese plans, Chinese theory, Chinese claim and Chinese experience, all of these can be considered as the perpetual motion machine for the development of the world.

China is a thinker

China has already passed the period in which it only takes its own interests into consideration. During the recent years, China has come up with new civilizations, such as the building of a common community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi, the principles of mutual consultation, joint building and sharing included in the Belt and Road, the proposition of choosing partnership over alliance when dealing with international relations. I think that the weapon of ideology is the largest public good. Now we can see that the competition between the world’s major powers is increasingly fierce, and they lack sound ideology. Therefore, China has also made a major contribution to the world by being the provider of ideas.

Chen Wenling noted that China is still faced with many problems in its own development, such as the issue of overcapacity in the international market, how to break the international barriers, how to shift the industry steadily from the low-/mid-end to the high-end industries, how to transform and upgrade the manufacturing industry, how to meet the challenges brought by the traditional trade methods, rules, and statistical methods. Having considered the severe domestic and international challenges facing China, taking good care of itself will be the greatest contribution China can make to the world.