BEIJING: As growth has become a scarcity for world economy since the international financial crisis struck in 2008, China is harnessing global economic growth by leading regional development, promoting capacity cooperation and establishing multilateral investment institutions.
China experienced a second-quarter economic growth of 7 percent at a time when the country actively seeks a slowdown in pace and focuses more on efficiency of its economy, making it still the main driver for the world economy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that China contributed to global economic growth by 27.8 percent, higher than the US contribution of 15.3 percent. The institution expects the Chinese figure to grow to 28.5 percent this year.
Shrinking demand caused by the international financial crisis has forced China to alter its traditional way of contributing to world economy mainly by foreign trade.
As a result, the world’s second largest economy has changed its role from beneficiary of world trade to creator of new models of cooperation and from a commodity supplier to global market to a capital provider, innovating and upgrading the way it contributes to world economy while maintaining a stable growth in its contribution.
Connecting Asia and the world by the Belt and Road Initiative
From the Sino-Kazakhstan capacity cooperation to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor funded by the Silk Road Foundation, the Belt and Road Initiative has since its inception in 2013 been solidly pushed forward in all aspects, forcefully fueling the economic growth of countries along the routes.
Data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce showed that direct investment by Chinese enterprises in 48 countries along the Belt and Road routes totaled $7.05 billion in the first half of 2015, up 22.2 percent year on year.
Over the same period, Chinese enterprises signed 1,401 construction project contracts, with 60 nations along the Belt and Road routes, mounting to $37.6 billion in money terms.
Sun Zhenyu, director of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said that the Belt and Road Initiative underscores financing, infrastructure building and realizing interconnectivity and intercommunication, and that it helps to promote economic growth both in countries along the routes and around the world.
Capacity cooperation reciprocates multilateral partnerships
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has mentioned capacity cooperation in several occasions during his international trips this year, especially in his trip to Europe in June, making the term a new business card for China’s diplomacy.
The strategy has not only facilitated the continuing revitalization of world economy by means of cooperation, but also followed the changing trends in the global industrial chain. It is in line with the need for upgrading the Chinese economy as well.
China currently has built 118 economic and trade cooperation zones in 50 countries worldwide, with additional ones still in progress, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
China is gaining an ever important position in the international industrial structure. On the one hand, it has elevated its level of participation in global industrial competition and cooperation, competing and cooperating with developed nations while joining hands in cultivating third-party markets.
On the other hand, Chinese enterprises have consecutively adopted the going-out strategy thanks to the advantageous technologies and experiences accumulated in several industries.
With the world economy still slowly bouncing back, the less advanced economies and the advanced economies will face the common challenge of the lack of infrastructure and investment.
Given that background, international capacity cooperation can help developing countries accelerate development in relatively low costs, promote industrial upgrade in China and seek market expansion for developed countries, thus being a remedy for driving global economic growth that will benefit all.
