Former WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy: China’s Opening-Up Brings Fresh Momentum

By Shi Shi, Li Yinong, SFC, 21st Century Business Herald

Against the backdrop of rising trade protectionism in some countries, complex geopolitical dynamics and rapid AI development, the global trade landscape is facing a new round of challenges. In stark contrast, China is boosting the world economy with new quality productive forces, high-level opening-up and the smart economy, delivering more growth opportunities globally.

Pascal Lamy, former WTO Director-General, said in an exclusive interview with SFC that China’s strong economic resilience stems in part from its open trade policies, which have attracted more foreign direct investment in both goods and services.

He added that China’s stable macroeconomic strategy is seeking a new balance among production, domestic consumption and exports. China’s success, he noted, is supported by its strategic planning and implementation capacity as well as the vast scale of its market.

Addressing the new challenges facing global trade, Lamy warned that geopolitical events could cause worldwide shocks. For instance, the recent US-Iran tensions have disrupted oil flows in the Gulf region, pushing up oil prices globally. He believes that energy flows are highly globalised, and prolonged disruptions would weigh on the global economy, though the short-term impact is relatively limited.

In the face of the rapid development of globalisation and artificial intelligence, Lamy said that digitalisation is a key driver of globalisation as it significantly reduces the cost of distance. Yet the absence of global AI rules may exacerbate the trend towards digital fragmentation in the short term. These new technologies, he stressed, are reshaping global trade and calling for coordinated governance among nations. 

Chief Producer: Zhao Haijian

Supervising Producer: Shi Shi

Editor: Li Yingliang

Reporter: Shi Shi, Li Yinong 

Video Editor: Cai Yutian

Photographer: Hu Kaiwen

New Media Coordination: Ding Qingyun, Zeng Tingfang, Lai Xi, Huang Daxun

Overseas Operations Supervising Producer: Huang Yanshu

Overseas Content Coordinator: Huang Zihao

Overseas Operations Editors: Zhuang Huan, Wu Wanjie, Long Lihua, Zheng Quanyi 

Produced by: Southern Finance Media Corp.