Political Parties’ Wisdom and Strength for Global Economic Governance
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 18, 2016
Keynote Speech at "The CPC in Dialogue with the World 2016"
Liu Yunshan
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee
Oct 14, 2016, Chongqing
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,
It's a great pleasure to meet all of you in the autumn of the beautiful city of Chongqing to open a window of dialogue and to have an exchange of ideas. First, on behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government, I would like to extend my warm welcome to you and my congratulations on the opening of "The CPC in Dialogue with the World 2016".
Not long ago, the G20 Hangzhou Summit hosted by China was concluded. H.E. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of China, made at the Summit China's proposition of building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive global economy and called for countries to open up a path of strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth for the global economy with both individual and joint efforts. His words struck a chord throughout the international community. Themed "Innovation in Global Economic Governance: Initiatives and Actions of Political Parties", "The CPC in Dialogue with the World" builds on the achievements of the G20 Hangzhou Summit and emphasizes the unique features and roles of political parties. I believe, with your enthusiastic participation and joint efforts, the Dialogue will be highly productive and will be a shot in the arm for global economic governance.
Global economic governance is closely linked with global economic development. Currently, the global economy is undergoing deep adjustments and tortuous recovery, and is at a critical juncture of transition from old to new driving forces for development, with the momentum of the last round of technological and industrial revolution diminishing and new driving forces for development still gestating. Economic globalization, free trade, international trade and investment, and multilateral trading system have suffered setbacks. Geo-political factors also prove to be entangled and complex. It's hard to overlook the impact on the global economy caused political conflicts, the refugee crisis, climate change and terrorism. In light of the current situation and challenges, it is becoming ever more urgent to improve and strengthen global economic governance.
At the same time, with the evolution of the global economy, there have been some new developments and trends in global economic governance that merit attention. First, the agenda of global economic governance keeps expanding. There are an increasing number of factors to be taken into consideration, which are not limited to traditional ones such as international trade, investment and finance, but also non-traditional security challenges such as ethnic and religious conflicts, terrorism, cross-border capital flows, climate change, and the prevention and control of transmissible diseases. Second, the entities participating in global economic governance have become more diversified. Besides sovereign states, more non-state actors such as international organizations, international corporations and non-governmental organizations are increasingly engaged in the process of global economic governance, and are playing a more important role in setting international agenda and in rule-making. Third, there is increasing demand for reforming the system for global economic governance.In the face of rising global challenges, the existing system for global economic governance finds it hard to fully adapt, especially to the rise of emerging economies and developing countries. Therefore, the momentum for reform is building. Attention is now focused on pushing the global economic governance to be more just, equitable, and efficient.
These new developments and trends certainly are not making it easy to improve global economic governance. To do so, we need to pool global efforts and wisdom. It is not only an important task for states, but also a common responsibility for political parties. As political organizations that exist in most countries and play important roles, political parties shouldn't be absent in global economic governance, rather, they should leverage their advantages and play a guiding and constructive role.
—— Political parties should offer guidance in global economic governance. Political parties represent the people. It is an important responsibility of political parties' to boil down the people's demands and ideas into theories and platforms that specify the direction of progress and the final destination. Modern history shows that whenever the ship of societal development risks losing its direction due to "rainstorms" and "fogs", responsible political parties always step forward to navigate for the people. Nowadays, the global economic governance is at the crossroads. Against such a backdrop, political parties should – with global vision and political will – strengthen their guidance of the public opinion, help people realize the momentous trend towards economic globalization, and push the global economic governance towards a more just and equitable direction.
—— Political parties should cultivate talents for improving global economic governance. Promoting global economic governance requires the participation of talents in all fields and strong support from all stakeholders. Galvanizing and organizing people is not only political parties' basic function, but also their natural responsibility. Political parties also enjoy vast potential when it comes to cultivating and pooling the forces for global economic governance. They can constantly contribute to global economic governance by uniting and leading all party members to utter one voice, by galvanizing and organizing their supporters to take constructive actions, and by further leveraging their role of liaising, selecting, and cultivating competent personnel in all sectors.
—— Political parties should enable progress in global economic governance. Being the modus operandi of modern politics, political parties play an important role in a country's political life and foreign relations. In fact, it is the various political forces, mainly political parties, that shape countries' philosophies, policies, and propositions on global economic governance. Political parties can promote the process of global economic governance not only through actively setting agenda, having wide consultation, and forging consensuses, but also through participating in or leading the government's decision-making, and through encouraging governments, enterprises, the public, and social groups to take actions. Moreover, international exchanges and cooperation between political parties also play an irreplaceable role in global economic governance. The reason that we are hosting "The CPC in Dialogue with the World 2016" and focusing on global economic governance is to encourage political parties to better fulfill their responsibilities in global economic governance, and to maximize the guidance and promotion that political parties can offer to global economic governance.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,
This year marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. Ever since the day of its founding, the CPC has always been a party with global vision and a keen sense of responsibility. It has always been committed to positive interaction with the world. Since the introduction of reform and opening-up, China has benefited from the international community in its own development, and is ready to share the fruits of development with and seek common development with the international community. Hence, we are actively participating in global economic governance on the basis of the principle of "wide consultations, joint construction and shared benefits", and furthering global economic governance through concrete actions such as the "Belt and Road" Initiative based on the same principle. So far, more than 100 countries and international organizations are involved in the "Belt and Road" Initiative, over 30 countries along the routes have signed cooperation agreements on jointly building the "Belt and Road" with us, and 20 plus countries are conducting international production capacity cooperation with us. Financial cooperation represented by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund is constantly deepening. And a number of influential flagship projects are gradually being implemented. Starting from scratch, the "Belt and Road" Initiative has achieved more in a shorter space of time than expected, and is bringing benefits to the countries and peoples along the "Belt and Road". China has actively followed the trend of economic globalization, and is becoming more and more open to cooperation with foreign countries. Along the way, China's economy has been deeply integrated into the global economy, and that process has deepened our understanding of the philosophies of global economic governance.
First, we advocate open and inclusive governance. "The ocean is vast because it takes in water from all rivers." Since ancient times, the Chinese has believed that the "world is a big family", and advocated ideas such as "achieving harmony while retaining differences" and "countries should all live in harmony". Throughout most of its history, China was open. In fact, the stronger it was, the more open it was, with visitors coming from all over the world and foreign business people pouring in. History has taught us an insightful lesson that openness brings about development, and inclusiveness promotes harmony. It should also be a fundamental concept that all countries adhere to. It is this concept that underpinned the G20 Hangzhou Summit's emphasis on improving global financial governance, building an open global economy, and promoting inclusive and inter-connected development. Global economic governance should be open in orientation, philosophies, policies, and mechanisms, take in criticisms and advice from all corners, and respond to the concerns and demands of all sides. We need to abandon bunker mentality and its resultant actions, encourage the engagement of all sides, reject isolationism and egocentrism that undermines neighbors, refrain from seeking spheres of influence and exclusive arrangements, avoid drawing lines by ideologies or value systems, and prevent the insulation of governance mechanisms and the fragmentation of rules.
Second, we advocate governance that is conducive to win-win cooperation. Cooperation is the inevitable result of the progress of human civilization. Cooperation between people brings about friendship and happiness. Cooperation between countries promotes peace and development. In the current world of economic globalization, nowhere is completed isolated from the rest of the world. Being residents of the global village and facing ever more prominent and serious global challenges, we need to cultivate a sense of community, advocate a new philosophy of global governance focusing on win-win cooperation, and leverage cooperation to achieve win-win results. It is in this spirit that we emphasize time and again that the "Belt and Road" Initiative is not a recital of China, but a symphony of countries along the routes. We don't want to stand out alone. We want to see the blossom of a hundred flowers. Countries should enhance communication and coordination, attend to each other's interests and concerns, confer with each other in rule-making, build mechanisms together, face challenges jointly, and share the fruits of success. Countries should not only encourage everyone to be a part of the action, but also strive to enable everyone to benefit from the results. They should spurn the winner-takes-all approach and any monopolistic intent.
Third, we advocate governance featuring gradualism. Traditional Chinese governance philosophy believes that "running a big country is as delicate as cooking a small fish" and that we need to "go slow in order to go far". Our wise forefathers have realized that national governance affects every aspect of society and as a result requires long-term vision, meticulous planning and persistent efforts. There is also an idiom in the west, "Rome was not built in a day". Therefore, global governance – being even more complicated than national governance – can't be expected to be overhauled overnight with drastic measures. The current system for global economic governance has played an important role in ensuring the macro-economic stability of the world. However, there are indeed some unjust and inequitable arrangements. To address them, we advocate gradual reforms and incremental improvements rather than drastic overhaul. The new mechanisms and initiatives proposed by China do not seek to form a separate system. Rather, they represent instrumental additions and improvements to the existing international system, and are innovations in line with the requirements of the times.
Fourth, we advocate governance that addresses both the symptoms and the root causes. Addressing both the symptoms and the root causes through comprehensive policies is required by dialectics and reflects traditional Chinese wisdom.We believe that global economic governance should embody the same philosophy, ready to promote long-term structural reforms on top of handling short-term crises. Beside addressing urgent security issues, it should also prioritize development and enhance governance efficiency while maintaining equality. Global economic governance should focus on the salient issues, and on solving the major dilemmas affecting global economic governance. Notably, building on equality, it should more accurately reflect the new reality of the global economy, boost the representation and voice of emerging market economies and developing countries, ensure the equality of rights, opportunities, and rules of all countries in international economic cooperation, and strive to enable global economic governance to be more reflective of most countries' will and interests.
Fifth, we advocate pragmatic and effective governance. The Chinese have always adopted a fact-based and pragmatic approach to solving problems. We emphasize consistency between theories and practices. "The journey of a thousand miles starts from a single step". Only by committing concrete actions can we reach our destination and turn ideas into reality. In promoting global economic governance, instead of talking the talk, we should walk the walk. All relevant parties should take prompt and concrete actions to implement consensuses, starting from those that need to be taken, can be taken, and must be taken. Actions should be practical and effective. In global financial governance, governance in trade and investment, and energy governance, low-hanging fruits should be picked as soon as possible, so that the early achievements can bring benefits to countries and peoples throughout the world. We need to adapt to changes, promote relevant international organizations to improve their operation mechanism and efficiency through reforms, and achieve the modernization of the global economic governance system and of governance capacity.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,
Improving global economic governance is a tall order with promising prospects, providing new opportunities and building new platforms for political parties to conduct their business. The CPC is actively putting into practice our propositions on global economic governance. We are ready to take the opportunities provided by "The CPC in Dialogue with the World 2016" to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with political parties around the world, to jointly improve the structure and capacity of global economic governance, and to bring benefits to the world. When ideas meet, they generate sparkles of wisdom. I hope, in the events that follow, you will speak your mind, pool ideas, and contribute your wisdom and efforts to global economic governance.
Finally, I wish "The CPC in Dialogue with the World 2016" a resounding success!
Thank you!
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