| Most countries have found that their economic relations with China are very complicated. Many Western elites have worried that China's economic growth would jeopardize their own living standards, while ordinary people have been told that "China's rise" brings an imbalance to the global economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke reiterated that the United States needs to increase the country's savings rate and surplus countries must increase their domestic demand. However, Western newspaper headlines consistently distort this message as: Bernanke claims foreign investors aggravated the crisis.
Looking at these issues from China's perspective may cause even more confusion. China has helped 600 million people rise out of extreme poverty and gradually moved the world's economic center of gravity from the Atlantic to East Asia. People engaging in economic development studies know that it is not easy to maintain long-term growth, even in a medium- or small-sized economic entity. However, China, with the world's largest population, has maintained a high rate of growth for more than 30 years.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States recently issued an investigative report on Cross-Atlantic Trend, showing that a great majority of American young people believe Asia is greatly important to the U.S. national interests. At the same time, they view China as an economic threat. These beliefs are strikingly odd: If one area of a country reduced a great deal of its poor population, controlled its economic decline and contributed to half of the country's economic growth with its outstanding economic performance, this area would be praised for its economic leadership. However, when "country" is changed to "global" and "region" is changed to "China," the conclusion will be completely different.
China not only needs to rectify its domestic imbalance, but also needs to tell the world what it will do. China should help the world understand that it is becoming a global economic contributor, not a bystander.
Many Westerners have criticized China for putting more than 50 percent of its GDP into domestic investment, which is not sustainable. But more than 200 million Chinese people are still living in poverty. China has imbalanced income distribution problems and its development is uneven. Only by continuously strengthening input in infrastructure construction and bringing its poorest western regions into the global economy can China's imbalanced development problem improve.
The world hopes China will display its leadership. Therefore, China should oppose Western countries when they confront China's sovereign funds via trade protectionism to channel off these investments from an entity economy to risk government bonds. By engaging in international lawsuits, China can improve its credit standing and other countries shall thank China's efforts to ensure openness and transparency of the world economy. China should offer timely responses to Western countries' incorrect criticisms of its economic policies. China should clearly show its diplomatic solemnity through its sincere communications, not merely provide technological and engineering solutions to global economic problems.
(The author is a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science) |
