Global Echoes on China | Erik Solheim: Guangdong is home to many extraordinary entrepreneurs

南方财经全媒体集团全国两会报道组李依农 北京报道

China has set its growth target for 2025 at about 5%, with the Government Work Report emphasizing high-quality development, innovation, and global cooperation. In an interview with SFC Markets and Finance, Erik Solheim, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, highlighted China’s role in fostering global economic stability amid uncertainty.

He pointed to green industries, AI, and advanced manufacturing as key drivers of China’s innovation, citing breakthroughs like DeepSeek AI and solid-state batteries. He also emphasized China’s expanding global trade network and commitment to a rules-based order as crucial for developing nations.

Recognizing China’s modernization, Solheim underscored the importance of green energy, the digital economy, and education in shaping future global growth. He also acknowledged Guangdong as a hub of extraordinary entrepreneurs who have built some of China’s and the world’s most remarkable companies, believing that their influence will grow even further.

China aims to provide global stability amid uncertainty

SFC Markets and Finance: What takeaways do you have from the “Two Sessions” 2025? 

Erik Solheim: For me, there are two key themes emerge from the “Two Sessions.” 

One is stability. China's Premier Li Qiang wanted to establish China as the nation which provides global stability and economic growth at a time where there is enormous uncertainty, because no one knows what Trump will do tomorrow. Trade wars may or may not happen. He has introduced various policy changes that we simply cannot predict. This uncertainty is problematic for investors and everyone else because because if you don't know the future, it's hard to make the right economic decisions. China is targeting around 5% economic growth and and will be the global engine for economic growth. 

The second key theme is innovation. China is focusing a lot on the high-quality growth areas, particularly in green industries such as electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. Additionally, artificial intelligence and information technology are major focuses. The recent DeepSeek breakthrough was a significant success for China, because it showed how much China is able to innovate. A team in Hangzhou managed to completely surprise the world by make it much cheaper and more efficient than anyone else on the planet. 

SFC Markets and Finance: How do you view China's target of around 5% economic growth this year?

Erik Solheim: I'm quite optimistic that China will achieve this, and China has two main assets compared to everyone else.

First, China has an enormous domestic market. Premier Li Qiang repeatedly spoke about increasing consumption in China and implementing different policies to achieve this. That is, of course, because the Chinese consumption market is so big that it will, in itself, absorb a number of the shocks coming from the potential trade policies of the United States.

China is now the main trade partner of 120 countries, whereas the United States is the main trade partner of very few. So all these other countries, if they have less access to the American market and less trade with America, will naturally hope to sell more to China, trade more with China, and expand that economic dimension.

Overall, with a huge domestic market and a very broad network of partners and friends worldwide, China is well positioned not only to defend itself but also to contribute to global prosperity.

China is continue advancing green energy and innovation

SFC Markets and Finance: China is on the path to modernization. What is your view on Chinese modernization?

Erik Solheim: China is now the most modern place in the world. I mean, if you go to the major cities in the South, like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu, or Hangzhou, there is nothing else like them anywhere in the world when it comes to modernity and creating a beautiful life for many people.

But of course, China should continue in that direction—continuing to provide more green energy to the world, expanding green transportation, such as public transport, and making cities more livable and people-centered. At the same time, it should fully embrace all the opportunities of the digital economy.

There is no doubt that the digital economy also presents challenges. Artificial intelligence can be used for war, terrorism, fake news, and many other negatives, but it can also be used to cure diseases that were once fatal. It can make energy systems much more intelligent and enable better decision-making.

Therefore, we need global and national regulations to avoid the bad aspects and get all the positives of the artificial intelligence. I see China as a core nation in the modern aspirations of nearly all human beings.

SFC Markets and Finance: What lessons can other developing countries draw from China's development experience?

Erik Solheim: That's a very good question. I think there are two, or maybe three, that are the most important.

Number one, political leadership is absolutely core. If the political leaders of a nation are uninterested in developing the nation, it is very hard. That's why you see China, as well as South Korea, Vietnam, and many other nations, developing. Indonesia is developing very fast because of strong, determined, development-oriented leadership.

China, over the last decades, has had leadership that truly wants to bring every Chinese person—not just many, but every Chinese person—out of poverty and move towards a greener future.

Second, many decisions must be left to the market. Only the market or companies can provide all the solutions we need. I was just in Chengdu and met with all the top Chinese solar companies. And look, there is fierce competition among them. They compete, but the benefit of that has been to bring down prices for China and the world. That is why solar energy is now dominant or can become dominant everywhere.

And lastly, education is very important. Not only China, but also Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam—are world leaders in education. Almost every nation has a high level of education for its top people. What makes China different from some other developing countries is that it also provides a high level of education for ordinary people, including the working class.

If you want to produce high-quality cars, you need a highly skilled working class, as these industries involve robotics and a lot of complex work. Here, China stands out with a very high general level of education and a well-educated workforce.

So these are the three main lessons for me: dedicated political leadership, a market-driven economy, and a strong focus on education.

SFC Markets and Finance: China places great importance on developing new quality productive forces and fostering emerging and future industries. How to understand new quality productive forces?

Erik Solheim: That is also one of the areas which stands out from China, This plan for China in 2025, which has been largely implemented, has really set out many of these areas. The combination of a strong government, strong businesses, and academic institutions such as universities is a key driver of innovation, which is behind all these high-quality economic development.

As an example, China recently developed a coalition for so-called solid-state batteries, which would represent a quantum leap in battery efficiency. Batteries are at the core of the global electric revolution, including electric cars, solar panels, and more. If the combination of government support, corporate innovation, and intellectual contributions from academia can drive this progress, it will be very important.

And of course, there is the DeepSeek breakthrough, which came as a surprise to absolutely everyone. A relatively small company of a couple of hundred people in Hangzhou managed to make artificial intelligence much more affordable and even available as an open platform that anyone can use.

If, for example, a medium-sized company can take the DeepSeek platform and develop its own programs based on it, that would be wonderful for the world.

China advocates for a stable and fair global order

SFC Markets and Finance: How do you assess China's role in the global governance in recent years?

Erik Solheim: This is a great question. The 19th century was dominated by European powers, who colonized the world. The 20th century was dominated by the U.S., and now we have a multi-polar world with both the U.S. and China.

So how can we make this new world stable? It needs to be much fairer and much better because many more people are living good lives, but we also need to ensure its stability.

I believe the key is to develop a rules-based global order, not like in the past, where there were rules, but some rules only applied to the West. We need to move toward a solid, truly multi-polar system with clear rules. Sovereignty for all nations matters. A globally open trade system for everyone is good. We need to fight all forms of terrorism. We need to stop all wars. And we need to cooperate on joint global issues like climate change together.

China has been a very stable power advocating for this kind of rules-based order. Europe, China, and, I am sure, many people in America will agree with this vision, and should join, engage with others, and reach out. Brazil, South Africa, Türkiye, Indonesia......all of them want a rules-based order.

SFC Markets and Finance: Why are more countries turning to China for cooperation?

Erik Solheim: The U.S. is now experiencing discontinued development.

First, it will become more difficult for developing nations to access the American market. And I am pretty sure Trump will pay little to no attention to Africa at all.

What will happen? All these developing nations will look to China for market access. If they cannot sell to the U.S., they will be happy to sell to China. If they can't send their students to Harvard or Yale, they will be happy to send them to Tsinghua, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, or many others in China.

They will seek trade connections and people-to-people exchanges through tourism. They want all these interactions with China, just as they did, to some extent, with the United States in the past.

This presents a huge opportunity for China to contribute to global development. But of course, it will also expand China’s influence in a way, because if you have many friends, you are more powerful. 

Guangdong is home to world-leading companies 

SFC Markets and Finance: Guangdong is a pacesetter of the country's reform and opening up. What's your take on that?

Erik Solheim: Guangdong is home to some of the most extraordinary companies in China and the world. Huawei is based in Guangdong, BYD is based in Guangdong, and DJI, which occupies about 80% of the global civilian drone market, is also in Guangdong. I could mention many more. Tencent, of course, and many other competitive companies emerging from Guangdong. 

Guangdong is absolutely central, and the project about Pearl River Delta, which is increasingly integrating Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, and many other cities into one economic hub, will become a massive center for global economic development in the 21st century. It will be even more important in the future.

SFC Markets and Finance: Indeed, Guangdong is an innovation hub. Are there any impressive products?

Erik Solheim: I think everything we have already mentioned is impressive. Of course, I'm a big fan of electric cars, and I see BYD cars everywhere. The drones from DJI, which I have seen in many parts of the world, are absolutely miraculous. Though drones can unfortunately also be used in wars and conflicts, they have many positive applications in civilian life.

Huawei is an extraordinary company. Mr. Ren, the founder of Huawei, is absolutely remarkable because nearly all the founders of IT companies were teenagers or in their early twenties when they started. They were very young. But he was in his 40s when he founded Huawei, which is why I pay tribute to him. It has been a miraculous journey in his life.

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