Opening up and innovation contribute to a steady, growing economy for China

By Wang Jiake, Jin Bo and Zhang Huizhong from People’s Daily

 

Opening up and innovation have propelled the Chinese economy for continuous and steady growth, business leaders gathering at the Summer Davos agreed while recognizing the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by China.

 

The three-day-long summit concluded on Thursday was attended by more than 2,500 guests of various circles from over 100 countries and regions, the largest number since its first meeting.

 

During the meeting held in Tianjin, the business representatives exchanged views and generated new ideas on around 200 topics, including China’s reform and opening up over the past four decades, approaches to build the Belt and Road into a road of innovation, and how to embrace a world with diversified concepts.

 

Chen Liming, Chairman of the Greater China Group at IBM Corporation, said that reform and opening up is a process of seeking mutual benefit and win-win results through cooperation on innovation between Chinese and foreign enterprises.

 

In retrospect of the changes of the Chinese market since the country started reform and opening up campaign in 1978, Chen said that foreign firms have gone through three stages regarding their development in China: Made for China, Made in China and Made with China, respectively.

 

Their focus of development in China has changed from providing products, to production capacity and then to technologies, he added.

 

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), adopts a welcoming attitude toward the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

 

He explained to People’s Daily that the initiative encourages connectivity of global infrastructure, while the 4th Industrial Revolution calls for the supports from global cooperation.

 

“The more closely people of different countries are bonded, the more benefits they will bring to global development,” he explained.

 

There have been many critics and pessimists who always forecasted that China’s economic growth would come to an end, but they turned to be wrong, Schwab said, stressing that he remains optimistic about China’s economic growth.

 

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis said connectivity matters a lot to his country. Construction of infrastructure like ports, railways and aviation lines helps to establish an interconnected transportation network, and lays a solid foundation for future development, he added.

 

The flow of knowledge and culture, as well as exchanges between different concepts are also very important, as they would contribute to a more balanced, equitable, inclusive and innovation-driven development along the Belt and Road, said the president.

 

Innovation, in the eyes of Schwab, is the most important component to keep a country invincible in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

 

“China leads the world in innovation as it has embarked on a sound development track of building an innovative society,” he added, suggesting China, in the next step, to establish more incubators, cultivate entrepreneurs, and enhance infrastructure construction so as to fully deliver the development dividends to its people.

 

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) President Yasushi Akahoshi lauded the great potential of Chinese innovation enterprises and start-ups, saying that Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places in China have a lot of R&D centers, and great changes will take place there if he returns to these cities after three months.

 

He said Chinese and Japanese enterprises enjoy a broad space and bright future in cooperation on inclusive finance, wearable healthcare devices and addressing aging societies amid the opportunities brought by the 4th Industrial Revolution.