China’s Development is No Threat - Official
By IPS Correspondents
BRUSSELS, Mar 9 (IPS Asia-Pacific) – China rising? The China threat? No, says a former Chinese envoy, China's sustained rapid growth and development in the last 25 years should not be considered a threat by the western world but a natural outcome of the country's foray into globalisation and modernisation.
Speaking at the ‘Asian Voices in Europe’ seminar series here on Mar. 7, Mei Zhaorong, president of the Development Research Centre at the State Council of China (highest organ of state administration that carries out the principles and policies of the Communist Party of China) acknowledged that China-Europe relations are “generally in good shape”. But the level of understanding between the two countries is still relatively low due to several reasons, he explained.
"While more and more people are accepting China's positive contribution to world economy and international peace, there are still others who have cooked up arguments about the 'China threat'. Still others have predicted its 'collapse' due to problems resulting from rapid development," Mei, also a former Chinese ambassador to Germany, told the forum organised by the European Policy Centre and the Japan-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
According to Mei, “peaceful development” is the more apt way to describe China's progress over the decades. This progress did not happen overnight and one that would benefit the rest of the world, he added.
Since the economic reforms pushed by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978, Mei says that the country has enjoyed quite a number of gains in development and international relations.
First, he cited the 9.6 percent annual growth of the China’s economy, ranking fourth in the world in 2006 in terms of GDP, which amounted to 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars. In the same year, he said, the volume of import and export trade totalled 1.7 trillion dollars, the third highest in the world.
Second, Mei continued, the quality of life among the population has significantly improved in the rural and urban areas, with annual income growing 5.1 and 5.2 times for urban and rural areas respectively. Moreover, the number of poor people has dropped from 250 million to 23.65 million, he said, citing official figures. The nine-year compulsory education has been implemented on a wide scale, allowing poor children in rural areas to go to school for free.
A social security system covering both urban and rural residents is gradually being set up and last year, the 2,000-year-old agricultural tax that burdened farmers was repealed, he added.
Mei also cited as an achievement China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, because it paved the way for more than 50 countries to recognise China's market-economy status.
This remarkable economic progress, however, does not make China a threat to the rest of the world. The reality is, Mei said, China is also saddled with problems, such as “a huge population, weak economic foundation, generally under-developed productivity and imbalances”.
China also faces social problems as it pursues economic reforms toward more market-economy features.
“The equally indisputable facts are that the big population, weak economic foundation, generally underdeveloped productivity and imbalances between regions and between urban and rural areas still remain China’s basic national conditions,” Mei continued. “In a considerably long time, China will remain a developing country.”
Market-oriented reforms in education, health care and housing systems will also give ordinary people “heavier economic burdens”, he added. Social contradictions -- China has in recent years seen protests from sectors hurt by some of these changes – “might, if not properly tackled with, lead to social turbulence”.
“Even though these are all problems in the course of development and the developed countries in the West all had this kind of experience in their 300 years’ industrialisation process, it is more difficult for China to solve all these problems given that the size of China is far beyond comparison by European countries,” Mei explained.
Besides, the statistics about China need to be taken in the context of the size and breadth of this country of 1.3 billion people. "The evaluation of China's development should not be based simply on the economic aggregate and its growth rate. Only by taking into account the country's 1.3 billion population, the central and western regions and the vast rural areas can we come to a comprehensive and objective evaluation," he said.
For instance, he noted that China's current per capita GDP only amounts to 2,000 dollars, way below the 1999 average level of 4,900 dollars in other middle-income countries. While the poverty level has decreased in recent years, he said that there are still 23 million people living under the poverty line in China today. Besides, he added, the more than 50 million people who have been freed from poverty are still in an unstable situation.
"Apart from that, China has more than 82 million handicapped people in need of special care. This number almost equals to the population of Germany," said Mei, who lived in Germany for 25 years.
China's low level of urbanisation, expected to only reach 47 percent by 2010, also poses a problem for the country's employment rate. "It is estimated that 300 million people will migrate from the rural areas within the next two decades. Every year, the population will increase by 10 million and nearly 24 million will ask for employment," said the former envoy.
Thus, Mei argues, the Chinese government needs to maintain a stable economic growth, not to mention improve the quality and efficiency of this growth. It also needs to develop a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.
It is also important, he said, not to neglect the agricultural areas and the farmers. This translates to support of agricultural development, the boosting of rural economy and increased farmers' income.
While he admitted that China's economic development would indeed challenge some countries to some extent, Mei pointed out that Europe should 'abandon the Europe-centric mentality' and welcome the competition with calm and openness.
Explained Mei: "China sticks to the path of peaceful development and is committed to developing a harmonious world with lasting peace and common prosperity."
Recognising China's 32-year diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community, Mei is optimistic about these ties. "Both China and Europe can support each other in a strategic sense, enjoy mutually beneficial economic cooperation and learn from each other's culture," he said. (END/IPSAP/LC/JS/100307)
