China's development will bring us more opportunities

The sustained, rapid growth of Chinese economy and the growth mode of China's economic society and a development trend in the future have drawn increasing global attention. So, the "China" theme has become a "hot topic" at forums of the UN headquarters in New York, symposiums at some national colleges and universities and special columns of many overseas media.

There are, however, some differing expositions on the subject. Most opinions favor China's development perspective with a huge market, and stand for stepping up mutual cooperation with the country, whereas other contradictory mentality wants to benefit from its development but remains worried about a possible punch from its rise. And there is also a biased misconception which takes its development as a threat.

Evidence is most convincing nevertheless. China's sustained, rapid growth has not only brought prosperity and progress to itself but more opportunities for the world at large.

Peaceful development brings security and stability to world

To embark on a road of peaceful development is decided and necessitated by China's specific national conditions, the cultural cream of the Chinese nation as well as its adaptation to the global development tide.

China has made immense achievements in a nearly three-decade reform and opening up and, due to its vast population, a weak economic base and a scarce per-capita share of resources, it is still the biggest developing nation, with its gross domestic product (GDP) ranking behind the 100th nation globally. Generally speaking, it is still a poor nation and, to put an end to such a situation, it has to go in for development wholeheartedly. Its growth is out of the question with the absence of a peaceful, stable domestic and international environment.

The Chinese nation has always aspired for a good faith toward its neighbors and upheld peace in history. In modern times, however, it suffered from plunder and bullying by big powers and loved and held peace all the more dearly. Since the founding of New China in 1949, it has all long been a staunch force to safeguard global peace and promote common development with its pursuance of an independent foreign policy of peace.

In the contemporary world, peace, development and cooperation are the theme of the times. In seeking its own development, a nation cannot depart itself from a harmonious and orderly global environment, as people know clearly. And in seeking its stability and prosperity, the entire world won't do without a harmony and coexistence of all nations. Two world wars of the past century have claimed million upon million of innocent lives, and they convinced people worldwide penetratingly that the launch of any war against other nation or nations is absolutely a dead end. A vital, important historical conclusion China has drawn from bloody wars for decades is that peace and justice are invincible and that peace and development is an overall trend not to be violated. So either in the past, at present or in the years to come, China is ready to work along with the people the world over to safeguard global peace and stability.

Development in China is related closely to the common interests of the whole humankind. If its 1.3 billion people, who make up one fifth of the global total, fail to attain their anticipated interests, then the accomplishment of the common interests for the humankind will be affected seriously.

It a nation with a territory of 9.6 million square kilometers, which share borders with 14 countries, is ridden with internal turmoil, it will pose a tremendous catastrophe for the region and the world as a whole. Hence, the materialization of a relatively affluent society in China will contribute historically to the development and happiness of the whole humankind.

Furthermore, global peace, development and cooperation interrelates and interacts with China's overall domestic situation of reform, development and stability. As a socialist nation and a partaker, beneficiary, a defender and builder of the international setup, China has actively initiated in establishing a fair and rational international new order and reforming these irrational elements. It has stood for democracy and equality to ensure coordination and cooperation, for magnanimousness and openness to effect civilization and dialogue. China has all along proposed integrating the interests of its people with the common interests of the humankind instead of benefiting itself at others' expense.

Opening-up and development grant world with opportunities and prosperity

China is a major developing nation amid a period of speeding-up era of industrialization, it has a rapidly expanding market capacity with a room for development of an immense potential. Its fast economic growth has brought many countries with substantial benefits.

Its fast-speed economic growth has increasingly become a crucial factor for the global economy to retain its vitality. In the course of opening-up and merging into the global market, it has spurred changes in the division of labor, the pricing system and the supply-demand setup as well as the optimization and upgrading of the economic mix globally. The "China factor" in the global economy has not only enlarged the capacity of the world market but contained a possible global financial inflation to be resultant from the rising of costs. With less than 5 percent of the overall global economic output, it has provided the world with over 20 percent of the overall increase in global economy and 30 percent of an increase in global trade value.

As a strong economy, notes a noted American economist. the rapid rise of Chinese economy will certainly bring unprecedented opportunities for other nations and transnational firms.

China's development has played a positive role to the global trade. Since its entry of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001, the country has imported on a yearly basis commodities of approximately 500 billion US dollars with a providence of some 100 million employment opportunities for the relevant countries and regions. With a steady rise in its imports in the next couples of years, it is likely to top a trillion dollar mark in 2010. Meanwhile, its exports will provide cheap but quality commodities for consumers for countries worldwide every year.

At the same time, China's development has provided a vast market for international capital. The world-renowned the Yangtze Gorge dam project and Qinghai-Tibet Railway and a batch of other projects, comprising airports, ports or harbors, subways, expressways, bridges and nuclear power plants, and the 2008 Olympic Games fields of stadiums, have granted overseas firms with business opportunities. Moreover, products from overseas or foreign funded firms, including aeroplanes, automobiles, air-conditioners, cameras and cell-phones are seen everywhere in the country. By 2010, indicated a given forecast, China's auto demand is expected to exceed 9 million, and mobile phone users top 600 million.

China has put to actual use an accumulated foreign capital of more than 700 billion dollars since the late 1970s an early 1980s, and a large number of companies from overseas, including some ace transnational firms, have open up a new horizon for their business in China. The overseas funded enterprises in China had remitted a total of 280 billion dollars in 15 years from 1990 to 2005. According to a survey done by the US Chamber of Commerce in China, about 70 percent of the US firms in the country have profited, and the profiting ratio of 42 percent of them have outstripped the average rate of the US firms worldwide.

Since its access to WTO in December 2001, China has fulfilled its commitment and undertaken its obligations assiduously. The tariff level of its non-agricultural and agricultural products has been 9 percent and 15 percent respectively as against an average of 29 percent and 60 percent globally. Of the 160 service sectors and sub-sectors as classified by the WTO norms, China has opened 100, only one less than the total opened by the U.S. and more than the number of sectors or sub-sectors opened by the industrialized nations of the same phase of growth in the early post-WII period.

Furthermore, China also encourages its enterprises with conditions to invest overseas and conduct multiform cooperation, which has contributed to an increase in financial revenue and creation of more job opportunities in the relevant countries and regions. In the words of Dr. Kandeh Klloeh Yumkella, director general of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), China is is now amid a shift from a leading recipient nation of foreign direct investment to a major capital-export power.


Cooperation and development give rise to global mutual benefit and win-win result

Chinese economy has become an integral part of global economy. China is taking a road of new-type industrialization, which gives scope to the high science and technology concentration, good economic efficiency, low-resource consumption, less environmental pollution and superior human resource advantages. Meanwhile, it goes on deepening the reform and expanding opening-up and keeps doing away with setup obstacles to its economic growth so as to inject its modernization program with a powerful impetus. Its policy of "making good friends with neighboring countries and maintaining harmony with them" has been well received by its neighbors and other Asian nations. Via the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization (APEC), the Shanghai Cooperative Organization, China-ASEAN Cooperation, and China/Greater Mekong Region Cooperation, China has advanced bilateral and regional cooperation and played a remarkable role in the Asia regionalization process. Faced with the Asian financial crisis, China, while providing aid to the concerned nations, insisted on not to devaluating the Renminbi (RMB) so as to help other relevant Asian nations tide over difficulties. Likewise, faced with immense pressures for the appreciation of RMB, it is steadily advancing the reform on the RMB exchange rate.

On the basis of its development, China tries to provide diversified aid to the best of its ability. To date, it has provide more than 110 countries and regions with over 2,000 aid projects, and waived more than 20 billion yuan (2.5 billion dollars) of debt owned by 44 non-developed countries. And it will also grant to the 39 least developed nations with partial zero commodity tariff treatment. At the forum on China-Africa Cooperation in late 2006, the Chinese government announced eight major policy decisions in support of the development of African nations and, with the framework of the forum, it waived 10.9 billion yuan (about 1.38 billion dollars) of debt owned by 31 debt-ridden, poor nations and least-developed nations in Africa.

China has initially partaken in international cooperation and responded positively instead of evading all types of challenges to the humankind. While calling keen attention to resources and the environment for the humankind to survive, it appeals for giving scope to the guiding role of the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change", the "UN Convention on the law of the Sea" and the "Kyoto Protocol", among others. Meanwhile, it calls on developing nations to do their utmost and contribute to the protection of survival interests of the humankind.

Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has recently stated that "China has shown by words and deeds that its rise as an economic power. Its emergence as a formidable player in the region has generated ambivalent feelings among some of its neighbors." China, nevertheless, has appropriately dealt with this problem during the course of its rise, so that its neighbors cooperate with the country, which helps its neighbors to benefit from its development, he added.

In the present age, an era filled with changes and reforms, all countries and regions are increasingly related to each other with varied civilizations mingled with one another toward the direction of brightness and progress. It is precisely for this reason that China has proposed for constructing a harmonious society both at home or on a global scale, a concept for a harmonious world by spurring the development of everlasting global peace and common prosperity for all.

A modernized China, entitled to be prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious China, is sure to contribute still more to the lofty goal of developing a harmonious world with peace and development for all humankind.

By People's Daily Online