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By Andrestinos Papadopoulos, Ambassador a.h.
The mere reference to China brings two points readily to mind. First, that Cyprus enjoys excellent bilateral relations with China based on mutual respect and close cooperation between the two governments on a variety of issues, as both struggle for the unification of their countries. The government of Cyprus firmly supports the principle of “One China” and the government of China has a principled stand on the Cyprus question.
The second is China’s economic prowess. The world’s second largest economy, expected to become the first in the 2050s, China has posted a forecast-beating growth rate in the first quarter of 2017. The government has set the GDP growth target at around 6.5% for the full year, while pledging to pursue better results in actual economic work. Already a number of financial institutions, including the IMF, have upgraded their forecast for China, as new impetus is accumulating and the economic rebalance is making headway.
The Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, addressing the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of Summer Davos in Dalian in June, stressed that China was fully capable of delivering the year’s major growth targets, thanks to steady economic transition.
According to the Chinese premier the stellar performance is attributed to the country’s ongoing economic restructuring. To achieve this, China neither took strong stimulus measures nor followed the old investment-driven and resources-reliant path, but strived to innovate and move toward an economic shift envisaging consumption and services.
Aware of the challenges to be met in this new approach, the Chinese premier stressed that “the long-term steady trend will not change”, having in mind, however, the increased uncertainties in the global market, caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. As Europe is one of China’s important partners, it is expected that Beijing will continue to maintain and expand its economic relations with Europe and the United Kingdom.
In a globalised world all economies are highly interdependent. In this regard, Premier Li Keqiang said that “the stable recovery of the world economy cannot be achieved without efficient and orderly global governance”.
The philosophical approach of the Chinese economy, based on the development in reform and innovation, as well as the adjustment and transformation witnessed in the first six months of 2017, is that innovation ideas contain the theory and spirit of sharing. This provides equitable competition opportunities for everyone, while also boosting the medium-income group and letting individuals reach their full potential.
Within another framework, the Ninth BRICS Summit, which was held in Xiamen in September the Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech covering a variety of issues concerning economic growth.
His audience included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Michael Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma. At the plenary session, President Xi Jinping stressed that as the world undergoes profound and complex changes, BRICS cooperation has become more important, necessitating redoubled efforts to deepen BRICS partnership, so as to usher in the second “golden decade” of BRICS.
To achieve this goal he made four specific suggestions: first, to seek practical results in economic cooperation; second, to strengthen the integration of development strategies; third, to make international order more just and equitable, and fourth, to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges. It is evident that the purpose of this endeavour is to benefit the people not only of the five BRICS countries, but also the people of all other countries.
Last but not least mention should be made of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China expected to convene on October 18, 2017 in Beijing. Its relevance to our subject lies in the fact that although a party congress it will decide the development strategy of China for the years to come.
Hard work, in-depth study and analysis of the economic data, as well as innovative ideas have brought the amazing results that characterise China’s enviable economic growth.
Dr Andrestinos Papadopoulos is a former ambassador of Cyprus
