Now all the 'the Belt and Road' projects will take sustainability into consideration and adopt green technology and green finance. " Peter Bonnet, CEO of the UK China Business Association, said at the recent 2024 "the Belt and Road" Trade and Investment Forum. Guests from all countries said that the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" originated in China, and the achievements and opportunities belong to the world. The participation of over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations has gathered a common denominator for common development.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. These 75 years have witnessed the miracle of China's rapid economic development and the mutual benefit and win-win situation between China and the world. From accumulating poverty and weakness to becoming the world's second largest economy, the largest manufacturing country, the largest trading nation in goods, and the second largest consumer of goods... China has become an important engine of global economic growth. From 1979 to 2023, the average annual growth rate of the Chinese economy was 8.9%, far higher than the world economy's average growth rate of 3.0% during the same period. Especially in the past decade, China's average contribution to world economic growth has exceeded 30%. China has also historically solved the problem of absolute poverty and comprehensively built a moderately prosperous society. According to World Bank standards, since the reform and opening up, China's poverty reduction population has accounted for over 70% of the global poverty reduction population during the same period, greatly accelerating the global poverty reduction process.
75 years of vicissitudes and great changes, why can China benefit and win with the world? This is because China has always placed itself in the trend of human development, engaged in positive interaction and common development with the world, and promoted the global governance system towards a more just and reasonable direction.
The mutual benefit and win-win situation between China and the world first lies in doing our own things well and developing ourselves in close connection with the world. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the industry was almost impoverished. China developed its industry through learning, introduction, and independent research and development, laying the foundation for integration into the world economy.   At this time, the global market needs to further expand, and China and the world need to achieve two-way cooperation. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization, becoming a milestone in its deep participation in economic globalization. Since then, China has fully fulfilled its WTO commitments, significantly opened up its market, developed foreign trade, and held global exhibitions... Its integration with the world has become increasingly close. In the past decade, China has promoted economic transformation and upgrading through comprehensive deepening of reforms, continuously advancing high-quality development.
China has achieved its own development through reform and opening up, while also promoting world prosperity and stability through its own development, becoming the main stabilizer and driving force of the global economy. Among them, market, supply chain, innovation, and investment are the main keywords for understanding the "China opportunity".
The market is the rarest resource. China's super large market is attracting more and more foreign companies to invest and develop. Especially in the past decade, China has deeply implemented the strategy of expanding domestic demand, and the role of consumption as the "main engine" driving economic growth has become increasingly prominent. In 2023, China will establish 53766 foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 39.7%; The actual amount of foreign investment used is 1.13 trillion yuan, ranking second in the world in terms of scale. Bjorn Gulden, CEO of Adidas in Germany, said that "China is crucial for Adidas". The company has opened about 7500 stores in China and will launch more products in China in the future.
The industrial chain and supply chain are important guarantees for global economic development. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, even matches, iron nails, etc. needed to be imported, and now it has become the only country in the world with all industrial categories listed in the United Nations Industrial Classification. From exchanging 800 million shirts for an airplane, to the soaring success of the independently developed C919 large passenger aircraft, China's position in the global supply chain is increasingly elevated. From the cost-effective "Made in China" to the quality driven "Created in China", China continues to provide abundant supply to the world. According to the International Energy Agency report, over half of the electric vehicles sold globally last year were produced in China.
Currently, China is vigorously developing new quality productive forces and sparking more innovation through deep interaction with the world. In 2023, the proportion of China's "three new" economic added value to GDP will increase by 2.4 percentage points compared to 2016. The latest report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization shows that China's global innovation ranking has risen one place from last year to 11th place, making it one of the economies with the fastest increase in innovation in the past decade. Singaporean food brand Weichi recently opened a global R&D center in Guangzhou to accelerate product development and upgrading.
At the same time, China's overseas investment has driven local economic development. In 2023, China's outward direct investment flow was 177.29 billion US dollars, accounting for 11.4% of the global share, ranking among the top three in the world for 12 consecutive years, and accounting for over 10% of the global share for eight consecutive years. Gabor Jenaj, Director of the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency, recently stated that Chinese enterprises' investment cooperation in Hungary involves fields such as automobile manufacturing, electronic information, and logistics, bringing advanced technology and management experience to Hungary.
From a broader perspective, the mutual benefit and win-win situation between China and the world is also reflected in promoting the construction of an open world economy through deep participation in global governance. In retrospect, from the Asian financial crisis in 1997, to the international financial crisis in 2008, to the impact of the COVID-19, geopolitical conflicts intensified, economic globalization moved forward in twists and turns, and the global development deficit continued unabated.
How to solve development problems? China has been acting: from advocating that development issues should be placed at the center of the international agenda to proposing the "the Belt and Road" initiative and three major global initiatives; From helping developing countries cope with various risks and challenges to opposing certain Western countries' technology blockades and decoupling, China has always advocated for "consultation, co construction, and sharing" to ensure that the fruits of development benefit everyone. At the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held recently, China proposed the "Ten Partnership Actions" for China and Africa to jointly promote modernization and make efforts to promote inclusive economic globalization.
China's development cannot be separated from the world, and the world's development cannot be separated from China - this simple truth has been proven by 75 years of history and will continue to be verified in the future.   The restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing industry have been cleared, and the service industries such as elderly care and healthcare have expanded their opening up... A China that continues to expand its opening up is undergoing new changes at every moment and bringing new opportunities to the world. As former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said, in the past 75 years, China has "achieved unparalleled development achievements" and will also promote the world to build a bright future with a shared destiny.