— Speech by He Guoqiang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, at the 16th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (St. Petersburg, Russia, June 21, 2012)

It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to attend the 16th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and meet friends from around the world in this beautiful northern metropolis of Russia. First of all, I'd like to extend warm congratulations to the successful opening of this forum on behalf of the Chinese Government.

Since the forum was established 16 years ago, its international influence has continued to grow. It has become an important platform for the international community to exchange views on major issues, including global economic and financial situations, and played a crucial role in forging consensus among parties and promoting international cooperation. With the theme of "leadership that works," this year's forum is highly relevant with extensive exchanges and in-depth discussions on issues such as promoting the global economic recovery in the post-crisis era.

As the world today undergoes major developments, transitions and adjustments, profound and complicated changes are taking place in the international economic landscape. Underlying effects of the global financial crisis are becoming more pronounced. While the European sovereign debt crisis lingers, fluctuations in international financial markets have been aggravated. Emerging markets and developing countries are under the dual pressure of inflation and weakened external demand. While international trade increases at a much slower rate, various forms of trade and investment protectionism are notably on the rise. The road to a full recovery of the world economy remains long, hard and bumpy. As economic globalization deepens, countries have grown so interdependent that they are becoming a community with common interests and shared wounds and woes. All countries–developed countries, emerging markets, major powers and smaller countries alike–should build consensus, strengthen cooperation, work in concert and undertake their due responsibilities and duties to turn challenges into opportunities and promote the robust, sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy.

China is willing to take part in the discussion and resolution of major problems in global economic development. It will work with other countries to cope with challenges for common development. Here, I'd like to make three suggestions.

First, we should vigorously promote openness and mutually beneficial cooperation. Countries should seek development with an open mind. With openness, they can promote each other's development by drawing on one another's strong points to overcome weaknesses. They should continue to strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, deepen international trade cooperation and promote global trade liberalization and investment facilitation. They should also firmly oppose and jointly resist protectionism in various forms, while working to establish a balanced and win-win multilateral trade regime that benefits all countries.

Second, we should actively deepen regional economic cooperation. Countries should continue to promote regional and sub-regional economic cooperation and the establishment of free trade areas. They should advance regional economic integration with various approaches and methods in a bid to realize the coordinated development of all countries. Russia will host the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in September. China will do its utmost to support and assist with Russia's efforts to make the summit a success. I believe the summit will further promote economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

Third, we should continue to improve the global economic governance system. The new global economic governance system should reflect changes in the global economic pattern. We should increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries in keeping with the principles of mutual respect and collective decision-making. We should support and promote the Group of 20's efforts to play a greater role in global economic governance. We should do well in implementing the positive agreements reached at the Los Cabos summit. All this aims to make the international economic order fairer and more equitable.

As the volatile international economic situation complicates the arduous tasks of reform, development and stability at home, China is pursuing development in a scientific way with a focus on hastening change in its economic development pattern. While carrying out a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, it has made concrete efforts to guarantee people's access to social services and improve living standards. In the first quarter of this year, China maintained stable and rapid economic growth. Its GDP increased 8.1 percent over the same period last year, while the consumer price index went up 3.8 percent. At the same time, however, problems caused by unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development remain prominent. There are still many factors hindering China's economic growth. China will firmly adhere to the principle of maintaining stability and social harmony while seeking to promote stable and rapid economic development in the long term.

As a friendly neighbor and a cooperative strategic partner, China is always mindful and supportive of Russia's development and revitalization. We are glad to see the Russian Government has enabled the Russian economy to recover rapidly and maintain stable growth with a series of effective measures. At present, Russia is advancing its economic modernization in an all-around way, showing an even stronger momentum for development. Both China and Russia are major powers as well as leading emerging markets. The two countries have made important contributions to the global economic recovery as they stick to the development paths that conform to their national conditions and historical traditions, try to handle their own affairs well and sustain the good momentum for economic growth.

China and Russia see important opportunities in each other's development. Each hopes the other becomes more developed, prosperous and powerful. The two countries are committed to strengthening economic and trade cooperation by fully bringing their respective advantages into play while abiding by the principles of mutual accommodation, openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation. They have already become major trade partners. Bilateral trade reached a record high of nearly $80 billion last year. They are now on track to fulfill the goals of raising their trade volume to $100 billion by 2015 and $200 billion by 2020. Not long ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a successful visit to China, during which he held friendly meetings with Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao. The visit gave a further boost to practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields. At present, the two countries are obligated to push for the implementation of the important agreements reached by the heads of state. We should take our economic and trade cooperation to higher levels. In particular, we should facilitate progress and breakthroughs in key cooperative areas such as investment, energy, science, technology, agriculture and the processing of agricultural products as well as in large strategic projects so that the scale and the quality of economic cooperation can be improved simultaneously. I believe strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia is not only conducive to promoting the two countries' development and revitalization, but will also contribute greatly to global economic growth.