Contribute Chinese wisdom to world development

The fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) came to a close in Shanghai on November 10. The previous three CIIE saw a total of $201.6 billion in intended transactions. The latest CIIE saw a total of $70.72 billion in intended transactions, and once again became a great showroom for high-tech and special, new products from around the globe.

Twenty years ago, China joined the World Trade Organization. Today, China has become the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions, absorbing one-fifth of exports from the least developed countries. The world embraces China, and China benefits the world. The Chinese wisdom of reciprocating favors has boosted confidence in other countries: A strong China will surely benefit the world.

A Chinese saying goes, return a favor with a favor. China has braved waves in the vast ocean of the world economy, traveled thousands of miles, to become the world's second-largest economy and the largest trading power. China contributed to an average of 30% for the world economy, developing from an active participant and promoter of economic globalization to a core leader and staunch defender committed to achieving win-win outcomes through multi-stakeholder, all-dimensional, and cross-sector mutually beneficial cooperation.

Over the past four decades of reform and opening-up, China's trade in goods has grown at an average annual rate of 13.8%, and its share in world exports has risen from less than 1% to 14.7%. Since joining the WTO 20 years ago, China has accounted for 15.9% of the world's import growth, ranking first in the world. The World Openness Report 2021 released by the 4th Hongqiao International Economic Forum fully demonstrates China's commitment to high-level opening-up. The new development pattern is a double cycle of greater openness at home and abroad, and an open world economy will flourish in step with the deep integration and sound interaction between China and the rest of the world.

“Balance justice and interests and put justice first.” In global governance, China dares to shoulder its responsibilities as a major country. In promoting world development through its own development, China advocates justice, generosity and courteousness. China not only upholds good faith, justice, and morality and values friendship, but also pursues public interests, cares about benefits for all, seeks long-term interests, and strives for greater interests. In the face of profound changes unseen in a century, China is not only the icing on the cake, but the “charcoal in snowy weather”.

Facing the complex international situation and the severe impact of COVID-19, China became the only major economy to achieve positive economic growth in 2020. China has taken the lead in maintaining stability of global supply chains and value chains, safeguarding people's well-being, upholding opening-up, and expanding imports. At the most difficult time of China’s fight against COVID-19, leaders of more than 170 countries and heads of more than 40 international and regional organizations expressed their sympathy and support to China. Nowadays, China has provided more than 300 billion masks and other medical supplies to more than 200 countries and regions, and more than 1.6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 100 countries and international organizations. China is committed to global solidarity in fighting COVID-19 and working to bridge the "immunization gap".

The Chinese wisdom of reciprocity of courtesy is nurtured from the source of fine traditional Chinese culture and nourished by the vision of building a community with shared future for mankind. The Chinese knowledge system represented by this has attracted extensive attention and in-depth research around the world and has opened a powerful thought engine for further promoting world development and progress. Recently, the 9th World Forum on China Studies was held in Shanghai. More than 150 renowned experts and scholars from home and abroad held heated discussions on "The Communist Party of China, China and the world”.Since it was first held in 2004, the biennial World Forum on China Studies has become an important platform for Chinese studies and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations. Guests from more than 90 countries and regions have joined the main forum in Shanghai or overseas sub-forums in the United States, South Korea, Germany, Argentina, and other countries. The previous four sessions focused on promoting the traditional Chinese cultural spirit of "peace is most precious" and closely integrated Chinese cultural concepts with China's modernization process. Since the 5th, the forum has been more focused on contemporary China. At the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, exploring the global significance of contemporary China's development not only gives them the confidence to answer “China’s questions”, but also develop the responsibility to answer “the world’s questions”.

In the latest book "Introduction to World Chinese Studies" published by the Institute of China Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the author tries to break free of ideological shackles and launch an equal dialogue, comprehensively summarizing and confidently answering the core questions raised by overseas China studies scholars in the past 200 years, such as the discourse power of narrating China (Tan Zhong), the inheritance of Chinese civilization (Toynbee), the great divergence of Chinese and Western history (Pomeranz, Joseph Needham), the long periodic law (Kondratieff), and the socialist system and its future prospects (Fukuyama), etc.

Researchers have generally realized that to promote China studies’ “return to China", we must deconstruct the Western discourse, remove the spiritual constraints, and construct Chinese discourse to show the true, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China. Zhang Weiwei, director of the China Institute at Fudan University, stressed that Chinese people should sum up their own experience from their own perspective, and establish their own mainstream narrative of China and the world.

China is increasingly approaching the center of the world stage, and China study is endowed with more meanings of "leading the world". In this year's World Forum on China Studies, former President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, honorary president of the World Food Prize Foundation, Kenneth Quinn, president of European University Cyprus, Kostas Gouliamos, executive secretary Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), Karina Batthyany, and other guests had in-depth discussions surrounding modernization.

Mr. Tadic argues that the stubborn insistence of "modernization" by Western countries is no longer "modern", and it has held the world back for a long time because of the lack of adaption to contemporary challenges. By contrast, it is contemporary China that has given a new definition of "modernization." China has achieved great economic development against loads of difficulties, which not only positively affects the world during the global economic crisis, but also lifts nearly 800 million people out of absolute poverty. China's modernization model has contributed wisdom to solving the modern dilemma faced by the whole human society.

The CPC has created a new path of Chinese-style modernization and created a new form of human civilization. This is a great journey that brings together the past and the present, the East and the West, and that combines knowledge and action. It is also a solid foundation for China to make greater contributions to global prosperity, stability and further development. Chinese wisdom, and together with the continuing opening world, will play the most magnificent music for the chorus of all countries.

Contributed by Chen Kangling, a researcher at the Center of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in Shanghai

Translated by Zhang Andi