Becoming an international stakeholder

Editor's note: There's no better time to raise questions than the NPC/CPPCC sessions, which bring together China's top policymakers. China Daily asks experts from different countries what they wish they could ask the members and deputies about topical issues. Reporter Chen Jia gathers the answers.

Joseph Bosco, senior associate of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, would like to ask: Which direction will China take in the global economy amid the changing political dynamics? Will China become the "responsible international stakeholder" it promised to be when it was admitted to the World Trade Organization?

To actively participate in multilateral affairs and global economic governance is one of the Chinese government's top priorities this year, a step toward delivering on its promise to be a responsible player on the international stage.

The country's legislators and advisers reached a consensus during this year's sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that China can play a more constructive role in global affairs and undertake responsibilities suited to its development stage.

The Government Work Report delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao called for the expansion of free trade areas and accelerated regional economic integration.

China is willing and able to participate in global economic rebalancing, said Zheng Xinli, a CPPCC member and former deputy director of the policy research office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

It requires China to stabilize trade relationships with developed countries, while deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with emerging economies, said Zheng.

In the past year, China has strengthened its relationship with the G20 and the International Monetary Fund. Top officials also showed their intention to help solve problems caused by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

Meanwhile, the country further opened frontier markets, such as in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, to promote the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Free Trade Area. Negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea free trade area are expected to start in two months, according to Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

China's accelerating urbanization process is expected to boost domestic demand and increase the country's imports from the world's major economies, said Li Deshui, deputy chief of the CPPCC economic committee and former chief of the National Bureau of Statistics.

According to research from Paul Sheard, global chief economist with Nomura Securities Co, China is likely to account for one-third of the world's total economic growth this year.

It means that China will play a more important role and take additional responsibilities to push the global economy in a fairer and more sustainable development direction, said Chen Wenling, chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a government think tank.