2024 Understanding China Conference | How to Understand China? Hear from the Foreign Experts

南方财经全媒体记者李依农 杨雨莱 李缘 广州报道

Carry through the Reform to the End

On December 3, I'm at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Understanding China Conference. This year’s theme is "Carry through the reform to the end—Chinese modernization and new opportunities for world development." Since 2013, the conference has been held seven times. This year marks the eighth conference and the fifth time it’s taking place in Guangzhou.

Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics

China has rapidly gone from an agrarian and rural economy to a manufacturing and export economy, you might have said it should be congratulated success, extraordinary success, but no sooner is there success, than one has to move on to the next stage.

And today we are moving on to a digital, not only a service, innovation, knowledge and caring economy, there's a digital transformation, a green transformation and a demographic transition.

So all these, and in addition to that, China faces a new global protectionism, and that this new protectionism, I think, provides urgency to this transition, which has been the subject of discussion for more than a decade. 

Shahid Abbasi, the Former Prime Minister of Pakistan

We need to explore the new opportunities, China's growth at the initiative presents to us all. China's Global Development Initiative advocates cooperation, openness, multilateralism, inclusive economic globalization, and harmony between men and nature for a shared and sustainable future.

This is the way forward for China. And it is the way forward for the world community. China's commitment to improve access to global advances in science, technology, and innovation is bridging the North-South gap, providing a great opportunity for developing countries to modernize.

Andrey Bystritskiy, the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club

Now when we speak about the perception of Chinese modernization and influence of the organization of the world, we should take it down into account as information problems. It means that a part of our modernization should be new Information rule, should be new Information dimensions of our communications of our opportunity to explain to each other what we are going to do and what result we will expect. And the problem is that to create real modernization, to create a new world is impossible in only one country. We need world cooperation for our development.

Understanding China: Prospects and Opportunities of Further Reforms

Comprehensive reform is central to China’s future, driving economic transformation and high-quality development. These efforts are shaping a new chapter in China’s growth with global implications. Understanding China’s reforms is key to grasping how to foster international cooperation and contribute to shared prosperity.

Let’s hear from the experts attending this conference, as they share their insights on how China’s reforms are unlocking opportunities for global collaboration and mutual growth.

Suraya Pauzi, Consul General, Consulate General of Malaysia

After being here for 2 years, I think I have to commend China for their very consistent policies. The government is always looking many years in advance. I think that the policies and the strategies that were outlined in the understanding China forum is very clear that they are thinking in the long term.

Not only that, what I really liked about it was a lot of thinking about the people, about the benefit for the Chinese people. I think from the aspects of education, health care and job opportunities, this really kind of also goes with how the Malaysian government thinks because we also have a similar concept called Malaysia MADANI, which is whatever we develop for the country we are actually developing for the benefit of our people.

Like I said, I think the way that China thinks, they're always planning ahead. I think modernization is something that they're telling the world as well as they are creating policies for themselves, which embrace the way that the world is moving.

We're moving towards advanced technology, towards greater use of AI to a world, which is very different from what it was 30 or 40 years ago. I think the term on a modernization is just not only to prepare the leadership, but prepare all the people of China.

Mushahid Hussain Sayed, President of Pakistan-China Institute

There is a huge transformation in the last 50 years, which is impressive, and strikes me. China has now overtaken the West moving forward. So that is number one, the quality of life of people, the society.

And in the states, today China is number one in science, technology, green development, innovation, poverty alleviation. And also I would say the governance model. China is doing very well in governance, providing good governance through an alternative framework. And it is also an example in foreign policy, in foreign relations. So this is another important change.

When I came, there was only one model, the American or the Western model. Now that is no longer the case. China presents an alternative global framework of development and governance.

Chinese modernization is very important, because it's based on people-centered development. It is based on raising the lives of people to a qualitative new level through innovation, technology and development.

And also there is another dimension. The above is the domestic dimension of modernization. The other is that China is sharing its prosperity with people outside  through the Belt and Road Initiative, through the Global Development Initiative, through the Global Security Initiative, through the Global Civilization Initiative. So there are different dimensions of that. So that is something unique and that also means China is sharing its prosperity with the world outside.

It's unique because China is the only country in human history which has risen peacefully. Its development, its rise has been peaceful without invasion or without occupation, without conquest, without colonization, and without hegemony. And that is unique because the Western model is different.

Josef Gregory Mahoney, Professor of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University

As we know, climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity today. It's the only thing that really threatens all of us, but those threats or the symptoms of climate change are all around us. Now who's the global leader in green development and innovation? Who's the global leader in developing the blue economy? Who's the global leader in trying to deal with carbon emissions? It's China. But we should realize that China did that by being open.

Let's be clear, understanding China, China is always changing, and some things stay the same. There are certainly core values and continuity is from one generation to the next. And we can even say that there are core values like harmony that go back to the Shang dynasty, that go back thousands of years, that we need to create harmony between man and nature or values like a shared future for humanity.

These are old values that acquire new significance and meaning in the new era where China has risen as a major power, and is now taking responsibility as a major power to deal more practically with problems that affect it, but also the rest of the world. So it's important to to constantly come back to understand China, to understand what the real values are, the fundamental values are.

But also because China is always changing and changing at at a rapid pace, you need to understand China now. You need to understand what the core values are, what they've always been, but also what does it mean to understand China in the era of being a major power, what does it mean to understand China as it moves from high to moderate growth, right? I think this is important.

But it's also the other side of the coin, is that we see so many lies being told about China around the world. It's not just about trying to help people to understand China, but also to try to help them understand what the lies about China are. Really, we're in this moment where we not only have to tell the story of China, we also have to out the lies and the hypocrisy, and the double standards.

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Produced by: Southern Finance Omnimedia Group