 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, November 13, 2012
The ongoing 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which has attracted much attention from the world community, is set to elect China's new generation of leaders. Richard Allan Nixon, Chargé d' Affaires of the Embassy of Grenada in Beijing, talked with China.org.cn in an exclusive interview about his expectations about China's new leadership and the future of bilateral relations between China and Grenada.
![Richard Allan Nixon, Chargé d' Affaires of the Embassy of Grenada. [China.org.cn]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20121113/00016c42b25a120c2ada06.jpg "Richard Allan Nixon, Chargé d' Affaires of the Embassy of Grenada. [China.org.cn]") |
|
Richard Allan Nixon, Chargé d' Affaires of the Embassy of Grenada in Beijing. [China.org.cn] |
Nixon said he hopes China will adopt a new methodology towards reform and promote economic development as well. He pointed out foreign policy, economic policies and domestic affairs would be the main challenges for China in the next decade. The following are highlights from the interview:
China.org.cn: What are your expectations for China's new generation of leaders?
Richard Allan Nixon: The expectations of the new generation of leadership are going to be very demanding given the very active geo-political landscape during these times. We do anticipate that the pressing matters to which China is involved would be amicably settled in due course. It is in China's best interest to promote peace and prosperity in the world because as the world prospers, there will be a direct impact on the domestic economy of China.
In addition, we see the desire to accelerate domestic reforms and the continued opening up of the vibrant Chinese market which are key factors in driving a stronger domestic consumer that would have an appetite for both international and domestic products, increasing the demand of a new wave of commerce both inside and outside of China.
China.org.cn: How will China's new generation of leadership affect the current atmosphere of bilateral ties between your country and China?
Nixon: We are quite hopeful that the strong ties between both of our countries would continue to deepen and strengthen. Over the past few years, China has demonstrated their friendship to Grenada in many ways and we are currently engaged in developing many more projects together.
The bilateral arrangements cover many industry sectors and we are now in the process of formalizing a structured approach for long term engagement and ongoing future cooperation and mutual economic and technical development between both of our countries. This relationship we have with China is very special and we intend to keep it that way.
China.org.cn: What changes do you expect the new leadership will bring to the country? Which changes do you believe are most needed?
Nixon: I believe that the path which has been laid out by the previous leadership is a good path to follow into the future. As you know, plans should be susceptible to change based on current events and redirection of areas that are of national interest. This is true for every country in the world and I expect that it would be the same for China.
As such, reforms on domestic policies would be very necessary in accordance with China's national development plans. For example, back in 1995 when I first visited China, I enquired about the opening up of the mobile telecommunications market and I was informed that this would happen in time after we first learn to compete among each other. I see this same methodology being adopted in other areas of reform that would be based on Chinese characteristics through its norms, traditions, culture and experiences.
On the economic front, one cannot help but to comment on the sustained growth rate in China, even though it is creating some domestic challenges of its own, these numbers are quite coveted by many countries around the world. With this in mind, I suspect that there will be a rebalancing of the domestic economy. This should also include a realignment of real estate pricing, affordability of rents and accommodation for migrant workers in the cities, increase in domestic consumption among others. The continuing development of the western and rural areas of China will continue as China seeks to increase the quality of life and livelihood into its rural areas as well.
China.org.cn: What has China's development brought to the rest of the world?
Nixon: I think that now the world has taken notice of the rise of China and developed countries, as well as developing countries, have to come to terms with the Chinese evolution into being an economic world power. I suspect that this trend would continue.
China's fast development is changing business and economic models around the world. As China continues to become the manufacturing hub for the rest of the world, it is incumbent for many different countries to recognize this fact and re-engineer their economies to dovetail into this trend.
For example, one of the perceived weaknesses in Chinese products is proper branding, marketing, ongoing technical and product support, in addition to product evolution. This is where many countries around the world can focus on fine-tuning Chinese products to meet customer's expectations. Trying to compete with China in mass manufacturing consumer products, for example, would be impossible. However, the customer facing side can be of tremendous value in wider product acceptability.
This is one of the changes where I see much synergy; however, this window may not be open for very long since the Chinese population is quickly learning how to do this effectively. This strengthens my previous point that change is constant and is based on current market trends and situations.
China.org.cn: What are the greatest challenges that China's new generation of leaders will tackle, both domestically and internationally, in the next ten years?
Nixon: I would like to briefly focus on 3 different areas, from my perspective. These are in the areas of foreign policy, economic/commercial and trade policies and domestic affairs.
First, in respect of China's Foreign Policy; the development in Chinese foreign policy has been quite rapid over the past few years. However, there is a sense that a new dawn is approaching which would usher in a new trend of foreign policy in China which would be more of a “homegrown” mix based on China's rich culture, traditions and experiences. It is quite conceivable to see China's form of foreign policy become more assertive and firm rather than passive and reactionary in the past. A China [that is] taking a stronger global leadership role is now emerging, which would focus on peace, stability, China's national interest and that of its friends. In the ASEAN region, China will also take a leadership role in uniting this very expansive region.
There is also a keen focus into the Latin American and Caribbean region as well. Recently, there has been quite a flurry of activity focused on political, economic and cultural exchanges which we interpret as China's signaling of the importance it sees in strengthening ties within our region. This leads me to my second point below.
With reference to the economic side, a responsible approach is suggested since the fiscal challenges being faced by the rest of the world would have a continued negative impact on China's GDP and manufacturing sectors. This means a few things. I would only cite 2 points at this time.
1, China would take a proactive approach to developing new markets around the world in order to keep manufacturing at a sustainable level. Various amounts of incentive packages provided to various countries around the world for Chinese enterprises to “go global” through investment and funding for targeted industries would be provided to keep China's growth momentum ongoing;
2, It is suspected that there would be strong stimulation of domestic consumption in order to widen the domestic consumer purchasing habits. It is important for China to maintain a more equitable balance of trade and indirect stimulation of foreign markets (good for foreign consumption of Chinese products); therefore, this consumption model would also include domestic consumption of foreign made products as well.
On the domestic affairs side, as indicated earlier, there is a need for a significant amount of reform within China. However, this would happen as China sees fit. I do sense a firm commitment towards reform; however, I am not too sure it these reforms would be based solely on other global standards. One should keep in mind the history and challenges in steering a very big ship… calculated, being careful, consultative and slow would be some of the keys in making changes.
I do think that in the next 10 years we would see a new kind of methodology applied towards reformation in China, which can probably be adopted by different administrations around the world, or at least, the adoption of its best practices.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)