Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee have proposed building a science and technology innovation center in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region oriented toward Central Asia, in a bid to promote the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and local development.
Chinese experts said that the center will facilitate technology cooperation and business trade between Xinjiang and Central Asian countries, further lifting personnel, technology and capital flows in the region.
The proposal was co-raised by three CPPCC National Committee members -- Liang Yong, Deng Mingjiang and Xiao Wenjiao -- aiming to foster Xinjiang's innovation-driven development mode, technological innovation capability and the new productive forces, the Global Times was told on Monday.
The proposal called for efforts in supporting Xinjiang to build multiple innovation bases with distinctive industries and advantages, and form new development modes in major cities of the autonomous region and BRI partner countries in Central Asia.
The proposal called for an enhanced coordination mechanism targeting technological support to Xinjiang, diversifying the supporting approaches guided by governments, and ensuring the deployment of talent and expertise.
Xinjiang has multiple advantages in academic research, industrial engineering, new energy and agriculture, which are highly complementary to the industries of Central Asian countries, said the proposal, noting that the innovation center will expand regional cross-border cooperation to stabilize the nation's energy supply and diplomatic relationships.
Liu Zongyi, director of the Center for South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday that China will not only export self-developed technologies but also learn from some Central Asian countries' leading experience.
In addition, the proposal said the innovation center will amplify the advantages of local pilot free trade zones, balance the development in China's western and eastern regions, and attract international technology, talent and businesses.
"The innovation center will simplify Xinjiang's international cooperation with neighboring Central Asian countries, and will create mutually beneficial results for both sides," Liu noted.
China's cybersecurity technology ranks in the "top tier" globally, and in the realm of security and defense it can now stand on par with the US, Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Qi An Xin Technology Group, told the Global Times on Friday. However, there remains a gap between China and some developed countries such as the US in terms of investment in cybersecurity, Qi noted.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) brings new cybersecurity threats, and China should accelerate the integration of cybersecurity and AI technology to enhance its capability to deal with cybersecurity risks and uncertainties in cyberspace, Qi said.
Qi, who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said during a group interview ahead of the opening of the two sessions this year that the development of AI technology has become a hot topic for discussion both domestically and internationally.
However, the security risks it brings have also raised concerns. Some experts estimate that over the next decade, the malicious use of AI technology will grow rapidly, posing serious threats to political security, cybersecurity and military security.
Regarding this hotly debated topic, Qi believes that there are three main types of new cybersecurity risks that would come along with AI technology.
First, AI itself exacerbates security threats, such as data breaches, fraudulent attacks, and security in social governance.
"Generative AI technologies represented by ChatGPT and Sora can quickly generate phishing emails and write malicious software and code, leading to an explosive growth in the number of attacks and frequent AI fraud incidents," he told the Global Times.
Moreover, criminals can use "deepfake" technology for face-swapping and voice manipulation, creating fake videos, so that "seeing may not necessarily mean believing" could become the norm.
The second type of security risk lies in the potential exacerbation of the "imbalance between offense and defense" in the field of cybersecurity, resulting in greater vulnerability to attacks, Qi noted.
AI significantly lowers the barrier to entry for cyberattacks, allowing ordinary individuals without coding or technical knowledge to become hackers, and thereby increasing the number of cyberattacks. Meanwhile, specialized hacker organizations can leverage AI tools to modify and upgrade their attacks.
The third type of risk is that AI exacerbates military threats, with the trend of AI weaponization becoming apparent, Qi said. He noted that AI can be used in lethal autonomous weapons like "killer robots," enabling autonomous identification of targets, remote automated operations, concealing the source of attacks, establishing advantages in confrontation, and connecting networks, decision-makers, and operators, making military actions more targeted, precise, and widespread.
In fact, an increasing number of countries are exploring the application of AI in the military domain.
Qi told the Global Times that the key source for AI is big data, so China must first of all solve data security issue to address the threat from AI, he said.
To tackle this challenge, a comprehensive approach is needed, involving not only "intelligence against intelligence" but also "coordinated development between humans and machines," Qi said.
Under the new circumstances, it is necessary to strengthen the promotion of technological innovation, encourage leading companies in various industries and cybersecurity companies to cooperate, integrate AI security technology into digital scenarios, and provide effective security protection, Qi noted.
At the same time, it is necessary to leverage AI capabilities to accelerate innovation in cybersecurity technology and security protection systems, in order to "run faster than AI technology," he said.
"Security is all about speed," Qi said, noting that effective security protection for new scenarios created by new technologies is essential for the continued promotion and application of technology; otherwise, technology applications will perish in their infancy.
AI can also be applied in the field of cybersecurity, Qi stressed. A security expert can handle 120,000 alerts in one year, and "our innovative Q-GPT security robot increases the efficiency of alert handling by 70 times compared to a human," Qi said.
This could help security experts save an average of 80 percent of their "screen-watching" time. It also allows them to use the time saved to engage in high-value tasks related to business and direct robots to handle more complex security incidents, Qi said.
Over the past year, international cyberspace competition has become more intense, with frequent cyberattacks. In response to this situation, China is strengthening the construction of its internal cybersecurity system, Qi said.
The cyber armies and intelligence agencies of some unfriendly countries will never cease their cyberattacks on China, just as we cannot rid the world of bacteria and viruses. Qi explained that the internal cybersecurity system is like the human immune system. "It can kill bacteria and viruses, or prevent these bacteria and viruses from affecting our health. That's its function," he said.
Although China's cybersecurity technology has reached the top tier globally, there is still a gap between the investment in cybersecurity by Chinese government departments and enterprises compared to that in the developed countries, Qi noted.
"The US 2024 fiscal year budget shows that the cybersecurity budget of civilian federal agencies accounts for approximately 16.4 percent of the IT budget, while in China, it's still around 3 percent, which is a huge gap that needs to be filled," Qi told the Global Times.
"Security is paramount, and insufficient investment will inevitably lead to insecurity," he said. According to the experience of developed countries, cybersecurity investment should account for more than 10 percent of the total IT investment to support digital business.
Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are giving full play to the main role of central SOEs in strengthening the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in response to the central government's call, the Global Times learned from companies and experts.
The move reflects the government's and industry players' determination to promote the advance of AI technologies in order to achieve an industrial transformation and upgrading, experts said.
In a recent statement sent to the Global Times, China Telecom, one of the major telecommunications operators of China, said the company gives full play to the main role of central SOEs and reinforces its strength in driving technological innovations.
The company has led the way after it released the 100 billion parameter Xingchen large language model in 2023, with more than 10,000 daily active users. The operator said it had made Xingchen open source at the end of January, a move that will allow for easier and broader collaboration.
"By doing so, we will broadly empower more users to engage in AI advances, injecting vitality into the AI industry," the company told the Global Times, adding that it has served more than 1 million users nationwide.
China Mobile, another telecommunications operator, is building Asia's largest intelligent computing center, which is scheduled to open this year, according to media reports.
The Chinese government has ramped up the promotion of AI development among SOEs. On Monday, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) held a meeting on promoting the reform of SOEs, stressing the importance of pushing forward the transformation and upgrading of central SOEs through technological empowerment, including AI.
The SASAC held a meeting on February 19 calling on central SOEs to accelerate the layout and development of the AI industry, actively promote industrial renewal and achieve better growth.
SASAC Chairman Zhang Yuzhuo emphasized at the meeting the need to promote central SOEs to achieve better growth and play a greater role in the field of AI.
The meeting was attended by representatives of SOEs in various industries, including telecommunication and information, manufacturing, transportation and energy, as well as high-tech firms such as iFLYTEK, according to media reports.
The SASAC also vowed to accelerate the construction of a new batch of intelligent computing centers and better leverage the role of the platform for collaborative innovation among SOEs.
Market analysts said that recent intensified efforts by the SASAC and enterprises underscored the country's determination and resolve to promote advances in AI technologies among SOEs to achieve transformation and upgrading, enhance competitiveness, and achieve other goals.
Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the meetings can be seen as the "first shot fired" in AI deployment, and it is likely to propel a new wave of industrialization for SOEs.
China has its own advantages in the field of AI, Li said, noting that with strong policy support, a huge population, strong data collection and capabilities and innovation, China's AI development will surely reach the world's advanced level in the next decade.
According to data released by the SASAC, SOEs completed 2.18 trillion yuan ($302.8 billion) of investment in strategic emerging industries in 2023, up 32.1 percent year-on-year.
"AI is growing rapidly, and central SOEs should become key players on the 'national team,' in embracing AI technology, in the face of a new round of industrial revolution," said Li.
Many areas across China have commenced construction of mega projects since the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, including industrial upgrading, infrastructure and energy projects, in a boost for the ongoing economic recovery, according to media reports on Monday.
On Monday, authorities in East China's Shandong Province held a meeting to promote the construction of major projects, with construction work for more than 1,000 projects started, China Media Group reported.
The projects involve a total investment of about 1.21 trillion yuan ($167.84 billion), according to local media reports in Shandong. Among the projects, 660 were for industrial upgrades and 156 for transport and other infrastructure. In terms of funding, 600 projects were invested in by private enterprises and 338 were carried out by state-owned enterprises.
Shandong is not alone in expediting major investment projects, as work resumed after the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. In East China's Zhejiang Province, construction work has also commenced on 333 projects with a total investment of 977 billion yuan. In Beijing, 160 projects with a total investment of 247.8 billion yuan are expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2024.
The accelerated implementation of major projects across the country is expected to offer a great boost for investment, which remains a major economic driver, in the first quarter of 2024. This in turn will help support the economic recovery.
Relatively slow growth in investment has weighted on China's economic recovery. In 2023, total fixed-asset investment only grew by 3 percent year-on-year, compared to 5.1 percent growth in 2022. Some economists have forecast that fixed-asset investment could grow around 5 percent in 2024.
Private investment is also vital for driving overall investment, and Chinese localities have stepped up support for private businesses, especially since the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
Shandong has taken various measures to support the resumption of work at private businesses following the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. For example, on Monday, State Grid Yantai Power Supply Co, the local branch of the state-owned power giant, dispatched a special working group to a local firm, Laizhou Sanli Auto Parts Co, which exports auto parts to Europe, North America and many other regions, to help the firm with issues in using electricity.
The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) on Friday launched a financial working group and held a forum on cross-border yuan payment and trade cooperation, aiming to strengthen China-EU financial collaboration, even as businesses seek to navigate challenges posed by increasing trade protectionism in the EU.
The new working group, following the digital and green working groups, represents the CCCEU's third working group and its first outside its Brussels headquarters. It underscores the Chamber's dedication to enhancing the presence of Chinese enterprises in the EU market, striving for mutual benefits while acknowledging the diversity across the region.
The establishment of the financial working group aims to foster financial cooperation between the EU and China as well as to promote the internationalization of the yuan. This initiative is part of the CCCEU's efforts to implement the outcomes of the 10th China-EU High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue, Sun Yanhong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday.
As Chinese enterprises increase their investment in Europe and amid the increasingly complex China-EU trade situation, this move by the CCCEU will contribute to the internationalization of the yuan, facilitating trade and investment for Chinese companies, said Sun.
Trade protectionism has emerged as a significant barrier to the longstanding trade partnership between China and the EU. Recent actions, including an antitrust investigation into Chinese train-maker CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive by EU regulators, illustrate the EU's shift towards more protective measures.
The EU and China are each other's major trade partners, with China's total imports and exports of goods with the EU reaching 5.5 trillion yuan in 2023, a decrease of 1.9 percent compared to the previous year, according to the General Administration of Customs.
But the EU's increasing trade protectionist measures are prompting concerns among businesses about the negative impact on the close trade ties between Europe and China.
In response to Europe's trade protectionist measures against China, Ola Kaellenius, CEO of German auto giant Mercedes-Benz, criticized the approach, stating that any move by the EU to increase protectionism against China would be a destructive move for an economic region like Europe, according to Reuters.
Trade protectionist actions, such as the investigations against Chinese electric vehicles and CRRC, not only harm the development of Chinese companies in the EU but also cause European corporations like Mercedes-Benz to worry about potential counter measures from China, Sun said.
With the EU implementing more trade protectionist measures and export control policies, it could lead to significant losses for multinational corporations, with ASML from the Netherlands being a prime example, Sun stated.
In January, the Dutch chipmaking equipment producer ASML, warned that the US' export controls could impact its sales in China by 10-15 percent in 2024.
China and Thailand will sign a permanent mutual visa exemption agreement on Friday, said Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, as China's outbound tourism to Southeast Asia is expected to return to the "golden age."
Srettha was quoted by Thai media as saying that, by promoting implementation of the visa-free policy, Thailand, whose GDP is highly dependent on tourism, is about to see domestic tourism market flourish again following the return of Chinese tourists.
Srettha said on Wednesday in a keynote speech delivered at "Thailand 2024 The Great Challenges" that Thailand and China will sign a reciprocal visa exemption program this week. For Thailand's soft power, "the visa exemption program between the two countries is expected to upgrade the Thai passport's power to a higher level," he said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference earlier this month that the government departments responsible for the matter are in close communication on the specifics, after Srettha announced that Thailand and China will permanently exempt each other's citizens from visa requirements, starting from March.
The move will further enhance people-to-people exchanges and mutually exempt visas between China and Thailand serves the fundamental interests of both peoples, Wang said.
In September, Thailand implemented a five-month visa-free policy for Chinese tourists, which will continue until February 29, 2024. Chinese experts said the upcoming Spring Festival will see a new wave of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries as the expected visa exemption program will help tourism and economic and trade ties.
There are also signs that the tourism markets are expanding for both China and Thailand, and China's outbound tourism to Southeast Asia is expected to return to the poast "golden age".
"Between January 8-14, Thailand's inbound tourism performed 'better than expected,' mainly due to the smooth recovery the tourism markets in the region. Meanwhile, among the international tourists Thailand received during the period, Chinese tourists topped the list, increasing by 27.75 percent , compared to the number of 80,000 in the previous week," said Thai Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol.
Thailand beat the target of receiving 28 million foreign tourists in 2023, but the 1.2 trillion baht ($ 56.21 billion in yearly tourism revenue fell short of planned 2.38 trillion baht ($66.89 billion), the ministry said.
On online travel platforms, Thailand is most popular destinations for Chinese tourists traveling overseas during the Spring Festival holidays, according to a report sent by Qunar sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.
Tongcheng Travel said that the popular destinations for outbound travel during the coming holidays include Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.
The decision to sign an agreement on mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand has huge significance for both sides, especially for Thailand, a country which highly dependent on tourism to boost its economy. It will gain lots of benefits from being the largest tourist destination for Chinese tourists, Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.
The mutual visa exemption will inject stronger momentum into the close bilateral relationship and accelerate people-to-people exchanges, expand economic cooperation, with a view to building a China-Thailand community with a shared future, said the expert.
China's annual Spring Festival travel rush, also known as chunyun, kicked off on Friday, and saw tens of millions of people rush to take trains, planes and other packed vehicles to reunite with their friends and families on the first day. Red lanterns, Chinese knots and bamboo dragons were hung up at train stations and airports, and passengers with luggage and gifts formed a vivid display of a robust and vibrant Chinese economy.
As the country braces for the largest annual human migration on the planet with a record 9 billion domestic trips expected, analysts projected a fresh consumption boom for the economy, which will not only give a boost to the world's second-largest economy, but also stimulate the confidence of enterprises to step up investment and innovation.
Dismissing the US-led Western bad-mouthing of the economy, they expressed full confidence in the Chinese economy's prospects, saying the country's institutional advantage in swiftly and effectively turning top policy blueprints into real actions will ensure the continuous stable upswing recovery of the economy in 2024, which is expected to grow by around 5 percent.
Fun and festive
China is expected to see more than 182 million passenger trips on Friday, the first day of its 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, according to a government estimate.
The hustle and bustle of chunyun was on vivid display at Beijing West Railway Station, one of the busiest train stations in the country. On a chilly morning, at around 7 am, the station was already crowded. Some passengers got off taxis before they even reached the drop-off point, and walked into the station pulling their luggage.
The noisy station was filled with vibrant colors and joyful laughter. Red lanterns, paper-cuts, Chinese knots and bamboo dragons could be seen at the station and on trains, immersing passengers in the fun and festive atmosphere of the upcoming Spring Festival.
"I couldn't wait to return to my hometown this Spring Festival and got up at 3 am this morning. When I arrived at the station, the festive decorations and cheers from the large crowd of passengers made me feel like the Spring Festival is already here," a 35-year-old worker named Li He told the Global Times on Friday.
On Friday alone, Beijing West Railway Station was estimated to have handled 143,000 passengers, and is expected to see a total of 4.92 million passengers, a spokesperson for the station told reporters on Friday morning. Operations were smooth with many workers guiding passengers quickly through security checkpoints and to their departure gates - a reflection of the improved capacity and services of China's ever-expanding modern transport network.
On Friday, China Eastern Airlines debuted all four of its domestically-produced C919 large passenger jets, carrying 111 passengers from Shanghai to Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province by noon. In the country's civil aviation sector, a total of 2 million passenger trips are expected to be handled on Friday, up 94 percent from the same day in 2023 and a 15 percent rise from that in 2019.
At Beijing Daxing International Airport, a passenger named Chen Peng told the Global times that he is taking his family on a trip to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
"It's the first time that we are taking my 6-year-old daughter to such a far region. In 2023, I got promoted with a higher income, and I hope to find a better life for my family and let my daughter see that our country is becoming better and better," Chen said. Boosting confidence
Extending the strong momentum during Spring Festival, the country's consumption sector - be it in cities or villages, online and offline, and in green spending or the silver economy - will continue to rebound robustly, with retail sales expected to exceed 50 trillion yuan ($7.04 trillion) in 2024, said Wei Jianguo, former Chinese vice minister of commerce and executive deputy director of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
This will not only play an important role in driving the Chinese economy but also in stimulating the confidence of enterprises, especially private companies, in stepping up investment and innovation, Wei told the Global Times.
"The year 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar. It is also the year that the Chinese economy will continue to keep an upward recovery trend, just like 'a dragon raising its head'," Wei said.
In response to the US-led Western campaign bad-mouthing and smearing China's economy after the release of the two economies' GDP data, analysts said the rapid economic growth of major economies contributes to global economic recovery and will help elevate the confidence of investors and consumers across the world. They expressed full confidence in the prospects of the Chinese economy, projecting that it will maintain around 5 percent growth in 2024.
Although the US' nominal GDP in 2023 of 6.3 percent is higher than China's 5.2 percent, the US' real GDP is 2.5 percent, data showed. "Part of the US' high nominal GDP growth rate is boosted by inflation and appreciation of the US dollar. Once these factors ease, China's GDP growth rate will be faster than that of the US," He Weiwen, senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Friday.
In addition, even the US' nominal GDP growth rate has shown a declining trend over the past several years, down from 9.2 percent in 2022 and 10.1 percent in 2021, which shows that the US economy is not as strong as some US politicians have touted, He Weiwen said.
The first and foremost challenge for the US economy is repeated standoffs due to its debt ceiling. If US debt continues to rise, it will definitely cause a US dollar crisis, Li Daokui, director of Tsinghua University's Academic Center for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking, said at the World Finance Forum on January 20.
He Weiwen said the Chinese economy will continue to maintain overall stable recovery in 2024. Compared with specific GDP goals, it's more important to stabilize the property sector, dissolve local government debt risks, nurture new growth points, boost the continuous consumption rebound and improve the external environment, he said.
He said China must be firmly committed to opening-up by actively conducting cooperation with all economies and introducing outstanding knowledge, technologies and resources to develop new productive forces.
On Monday, a meeting of the State Council pledged efforts to enhance the innovation and coordination of policy tools, consolidate and strengthen the trend of economic recovery, and promote the stable and healthy development of the capital market.
Following the key meeting, multiple government agencies including the People's Bank of China, National Financial Regulatory Administration and National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, announced a series of measures, with the cut of the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points starting from February 5 being an important move.
In early January of 2024, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of Communist Party of China Central Committee's Political Bureau, visited Egypt, Tunisia, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Brazil and Jamaica, all developing countries and good partners of China. The visits, once again, showed that Beijing has always stood together with the countries in the Global South, proactively advancing the process of multilateralism in global affairs and promoting the modernization cause of the Global South.
Putting forward a four-point proposal on strengthening cooperation among the Global South nations in South Africa last year, Wang said that the voice and representation of the Global South countries need to be expanded to safeguard their common interests. He named political independence as the defining feature of the Global South countries, justice and fairness as their common proposition, and economic moderation as their common goal.
Seen across the landscape, the world is now faced with unprecedented challenges but also accelerated changes, and an important characteristic of these changes is the collective economic rise of the developing countries. China, an important member of the Global South, will continue to facilitate broader integration with other developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere to advance their modernization.
China and most countries of the Global South share similar historical experiences and journeys of struggle, and all of them had in the past 100 or so years emerged from the great cause of fighting against aggression, colonialism, plunder, hegemony, and power politics. Therefore, all Global South countries are naturally bound to stand for world justice, economic integrity and solidarity, and aim to build a better global governance system.
It is through those years of struggle and hard work, along with the evolving changes in this century, that the Global South has gradually "become an important force driving reforms in the world order and seeking political independence, national rejuvenation and international justice," said an essay written by Liu Jianchao, minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee.
Now, the world is embroidered in constant volatilities, skirmishes, clashes and hostilities. Some countries and military alignments have continued to bully others, killing innocent people and children, while imposing economic and technology sanctions to stymie the rise of other emerging economies such as China. Unilateralism and protectionism are rearing their ugly heads and attempts to build "small yards with high fences" to decouple from other economies, sever industry and supply chains, and even stoke bloc confrontation are rampant on the globe.
To build a better world, and say no to some countries' reckless de-globalization attempts and power politics, the Global South countries should unite and join hands to face the headwind together, by resolutely embracing globalization, and integrating their economies while making the rules of globalization more reasonable and conditions more favorable. Yes, globalization has suffered some setbacks now, and the Global South countries have to make a choice to avoid being bullied and pushed around.
As proposed by Liu, the Global South is the source of strength for global multi-polarity and now it has got an important opportunity to play a larger and more significant role on the world stage.
And, countries of the Global South could uphold the principle of "planning together, building together and benefiting together", pressing ahead the Belt and Road cooperation to a new stage of high-quality development, injecting new momentum into their economic growth, while creating new opportunities for global development and building a new platform for international cooperation. Yes, the Global South countries could aim at setting a new type of globalization that involves more diversified players, with an effective platform that is more open, inclusive and beneficial for all participants.
In terms of land size, vitality and growth potential, the rise of the Global South is imperative and of great importance for the world. For many years, the voice of the Global South has been muted and their reasonable concerns have been neglected. The evolving trend shows the collective rise of the Global South is promoting greater democracy in international relations and helping reshape the global economic and political landscape.
According to statistics, the land area of the Global South countries account for some 70 percent of the world's total, and these countries' combined population and contribution to world economy account for four fifths of the world's total. Working together to advance infrastructure and economic modernization and their peoples' living standard is what the Global South countries should unite and strive for.
The narrative being trumpeted by some Western pundits suggesting "the weak will be weaker" is immoral, wicked and untenable. As many countries of the Global South were suppressed and exploited by colonizers and started to develop their economies relatively late with a weak foundation, these developing countries should unite and learn from each other to promote their modernization process. And, to realize modernization, the countries of the Global South should seek a path that best suits their respective national conditions.
China is rooted in the Global South and it cares about the Global South. China has always stood in solidarity with other countries of the Global South, and has been an important player and true partner in South-South cooperation. So China has a lot to share with other developing countries and help them achieve modernization at the earliest date.
As Liu noted in his article, the Global South should strengthen strategic communication and policy alignment, remove barriers and share resources, technology and experiences to build a modern and well-developed Global South market. "On the one hand, we should strengthen the Global South's synergy to defend our legitimate rights and interests by tightening the important mechanisms including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the G77+China. On the other hand, we must stay away from zero-sum games and cold war mentality."
By all metrics, the modernization and economic rise of the Global South is unstoppable and irreversible, and a prosperous, strong and united Global South will sustain global economic growth, environmental progress and help bring about a community of the Global South with a shared bright future.
At a time when we face multiple economic challenges, it's expected that reform and a wave of industrialization will create new growth momentum, but some Westerners have deep misunderstandings of the Chinese economy, as they claim China's increased industrial investment poses a major risk to the global macroeconomic balance. This misunderstanding is not difficult to correct because it is largely based on misconceptions.
China has failed to shift toward a new strategy based on boosting household consumption, so it's betting on increased industrial investment and manufactured exports to stimulate the economy, according to a media report.
Citing French daily Le Monde commentator Stéphane Lauer, the report claimed China's manufacturing investment may create a crisis of overcapacity, endangering the global economic system and breaking the balance of the status quo. This reflects a biased and distorted judgment about China's economic prospects.
China's increasing industrial investment does not equate to "a crisis of overcapacity." Whether China exports advanced production capacity or excess capacity should be determined by the global market, instead of Western politicians and media outlets.
Under the premise of free trade, if Chinese industrial products are popular in the global market, then they will represent advanced production capacity. On the contrary, if those goods become unsalable, they can represent excess capacity.
China has made strides in recent years in boosting research and development spending, expanding clean-energy production and using new production technologies. The country has gained a competitive advantage in some technology-intensive industries. It is absurd to say that China is exporting its outdated excess capacity.
Significant investment and growth in the Chinese manufacturing industry is expected to continue in 2024. It is ridiculous to lead people to believe that China must copy the old path of Western modernization, in which many countries relied too much on consumption, and began deindustrialization when their industrialization process was not complete.
Deindustrialization has become a big challenge related to governance, and it is linked to social unrest and economic chaos in parts of the world.
China cannot afford to fall into the trap of deindustrialization. With a population of 1.4 billion, China requires a mature manufacturing sector to provide quality employment. Chinese enterprises should focus on making breakthroughs in key technologies and promoting industrialization.
According to the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China will continue to focus on the real economy in pursuing economic growth, and move the manufacturing sector toward higher-end, smarter and greener production.
China's rebalancing of its economy from investment-led growth to consumption is likely to accelerate in the coming years, as the country steps up its policy support to increase consumer spending, but, for a long time to come, China's manufacturing sector will still play an important role in the economy.
Undoubtedly, China will export more manufactured products, bringing greater competition in the global market. But this does not mean that China will export excess capacity. On the contrary, more intense competition will encourage global manufacturers to upgrade their technology and sell their products at lower prices, thereby benefiting global consumers with efficient production.
Some Westerners claim that China's increased industrial investment poses a major risk to the global macroeconomic balance, or that China is exporting its excess capacity to the global market. Such erroneous remarks have been used by some Western politicians as an excuse to pursue trade protectionism and crack down on Chinese products and Chinese companies.
Their real purpose is to exclude China from the global industrial chain and protect Western companies from competition, but that is an almost impossible task. The West should prepare for more intense global manufacturing competition.
The Chinese yuan outpaced the US dollar to become the most traded foreign currency on Russia's Moscow Exchange in 2023, with the yuan trading volume accounting for almost 42 percent of all foreign currency traded on the exchange, according to media reports.
The volume of yuan trading on the exchange in 2023 more than tripled year-on-year to reach 34.2 trillion roubles ($391.5 billion), Russian news agency Sputnik reported on Tuesday, citing Russian media outlet Kommersant Daily.
It said the proportion of US dollars traded on the exchange was less than 40 percent, following the Chinese yuan. The third currency came in as euro, which accounted for less than 18 percent.
Last year, Russia's need of other friendly countries' currencies also reported increases, Sputnik said, without giving details.
Trade between China and Russia hit a record high in 2023, reaching 1.69 trillion yuan ($235.9 billion), an increase of 32.7 percent on a yearly basis, Chinese customs data showed on Friday.
