A new blueprint for global growth

(China Daily) Updated: 2015-09-12 08:27

Mass entrepreneurship and innovation gives impetus to developing a sharing economy. The sharing economy that is now thriving on a global scale opens a new way to drive economic growth. Entrepreneurship and innovation through sharing and collaboration lower the threshold and costs and increase the speed of doing business. This opens up space for developing the sharing economy in China and may get a lot of people involved.

Mass entrepreneurship and innovation represents an innovative step in the income distribution model. With tens of thousands of people earning more through innovation and starting up businesses, primary distribution gets to play a bigger role. A distinct Chinese model of wealth creation through hard work and mass participation is now taking shape. And this will help put in place a more equitable distribution pattern.

Mass entrepreneurship and innovation is effective in promoting social justice. As long as they are willing and capable, all people could establish themselves and lead a promising life through innovation and entrepreneurship. They could all have an equal chance for development and for moving up the social ladder, and could all enjoy a life of purpose and dignity.

Mass entrepreneurship and innovation requires a comprehensive and accessible supply of public goods and services. This also requires structural reform. Instead of acting on its own, the government encourages the participation of private capital and foreign investment. By promoting government procurement of social services, PPP, franchising and other market-oriented approaches, we encourage and guide the participation of private investment in the development, operation and management of public goods and services. In addition, we have relaxed market access for foreign investment. As a result, a new model of diverse supply of public goods and services has been forged.

Going forward, we will continue to advance such reform, so as to facilitate entrepreneurship and innovation, promote better economic development and improve people's living standards.

Ladies and gentlemen, China's reform is a process of continued opening-up and integration into the world. China will open still wider to the rest of the world. There will be no change in China's overall policy on FDI.

Specific steps will be taken to attract more foreign investment through greater openness. For example, this year, we further expanded the areas open to foreign investment and cut by half the number of items where restrictions were imposed on foreign investment access. To facilitate foreign investment, we have by and large replaced the past practice of review and approval with the practice of record keeping. We will continue such efforts to make China one of the most appealing destinations for investment.

The recent volatility in the international financial market has affected global economic recovery. It is imperative for countries to step up macroeconomic policy coordination, maintain stability of the financial market through concerted efforts and bring the global economy back on the track of healthy growth. What has happened since the international financial crisis shows that quantitative easing alone cannot address the structural hindrances to growth, and policies as such may not be without their negative impacts. What is important is to strengthen the real economy. This would require that countries advance structural reform at home and strengthen international cooperation.

Along this line, China has come up with the initiatives to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and to promote global cooperation on production capacity. We believe these initiatives could help further open up our country and forge a more balanced and inclusive global industrial chain. This in turn could pool the comparative strengths of all countries and foster a global community of common interests and development for win-win, inclusive and common progress.

Countries are at different stages of development. Global cooperation on production capacity will match supply with demand effectively, and generate more demand through innovation on the supply side. As developing countries accelerate industrialization and urbanization, they now have a strong demand for applicable technologies, equipment and infrastructure. Many middle-income countries and developed countries also need to upgrade their equipment and infrastructure. However, constrained by a funding shortage, some demands have been repressed.

Talking about comparative strengths, developed countries have advanced key technologies and equipment, but the demand for their products and equipment is limited due to high prices. Developing countries may enjoy rich natural resources and low labor costs, yet most of their industries and products are at the low end. And as far as China is concerned, it has manufacturing capacity for quality and affordable mid-end equipment, strong engineering and service capabilities, and large foreign exchange reserves. What China needs is to transform and upgrade its industries.

Three-party cooperation could combine our comparative strengths, and provide quality equipment and products with relatively low prices to bring down construction costs and better meet the needs of different countries. It will also help countries overcome the difficulties in industrial development, upgrade their industries and integrate the high, middle and low ends of the global industrial chain. This will help businesses increase their presence in both the international and Chinese markets. Like a convex lens that makes rays converge, such a cooperation model brings together the supplies and demands of various parties and converges their interests. It could be a new driver to sustain steady growth of the global economy.

More and more countries, developing and developed alike, have responded positively to such an approach of global cooperation, which will produce multiple benefits and win-win results among all three parties. China's role could be a bridge that links the parties together. Global cooperation on production capacity presents enormous business opportunities for companies worldwide. I hope you could all seize the opportunity, explore cooperation possibilities and try new cooperation models. And I'm sure you could all be successful.

In fact, such cooperation could be as wide-ranging as to require the strong support from governments, international organizations and financial institutions. And it may be a good idea for parties concerned to strengthen coordination and jointly promote such cooperation by including it into the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms.

China may tap into its advantage in foreign exchange reserve to provide financing support for Chinese and foreign companies involved in such cooperation. As long as we join efforts, we could make sure that global cooperation on production capacity will leave its mark in the world economic history and become part of the new blueprint for global growth.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live in the same globalized world. Like passengers riding in the same boat, we all have a stake in each other's future. To promote global economic recovery is our common task. The international community should work together and increase coordination in order to advance structural reform and push for an improved multilateral trading regime that is free, open and nondiscriminatory.

China is committed to peaceful development and a win-win strategy of opening-up. We will work with all countries to promote inclusive and balanced growth and green and sustainable development. Together, we could build a community of common interests and development, and create an even better future for mankind.

I wish the annual meeting a full success. Thank you.