China Special: Beijing's Diplomatic Offensive for Economic Growth

In the past few months, Chinese leaders have been paying more official visits around the world (see list at end of article). Besides the sightseeing, "maintaining stable economic growth and promoting development are the main goals of China's diplomacy in 2010”.

China has historically tried to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relationships with other countries and organizations through economic cooperation and development rather than military alliances such as NATO. As Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, asserts,“China's development has been made possible by our dedicated efforts on the economic and social fronts, not by armed expansion abroad."

Examples?

*At the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit in 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao called for greater efforts to promote trade and investment liberalisation and to oppose protectionism in dealing with the economic crisis/

*On 1 January 2010, the China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Area, the world's largest FTA embracing developing countries, was created, with the average tariff on goods from ASEAN countries to China cut to 0.1%, and the six original ASEAN members slashing the average tariff on Chinese goods from 12.8% to 0.6%.

*On May 2010, China and the United States held the second round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogues in Beijing, discussing key issues including trade, investment, global economy recovery, and climate change.

*In July 2010, German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid an official visit to China. The two countries pledged to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in a wide range of areas including politics, economy,and culture.

*China, Japan, and South Korea are researching the establishment of a free trade area among the three nations. This research will be completed before 2010.

While many countries have yet to escape the aftereffects of the global economic downturn, China achieved the fastest growth worldwide in 2009, becoming the second-largest importing country and the largest exporter. At the same time, China still faces many challenges and difficulties. For example, China's per capita GDP is still lower than that of at least 100 countries. With the shrinking of overseas markets, China’s exports are suffering a sharp decrease. China is “at the lower end of the global industrial chain and lacks competitiveness in scientific research and development and high-end manufacturing”. Inside the country, the wealth gap between rich and poor, and the unevenness of development between east and west is increasing.

The international financial and economic crisis has been the catalyst for China to accelerate its economic restructuring and transformation of growth patterns. In June, Chongqing, the biggest municipality of China, won government approval to set up a special economic zone --- Liangjiang New Area --- the nation's third of its kind after Shanghai Pudong and Tianjin Binhai. Liangjiang New Area is set to become a modern manufacturing base and the premier financial center in western China, driven by pillar industries including IT, automobile, and equipment and machinery manufacturing.

In July, the Chinese central government unveiled an ambitious plan to boost growth and development in its western region --- more than 70 percent of the Chinese mainland's area and habitat of 75 percent of the country's ethnic minority population, involving six provinces, five autonomous regions, and the Chongqing municipality.

On the one hand, China endeavours to promote economic and trade cooperations, introducing more foreign investments and importing more energy resources and high technology. According to a report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, China became the second-largest recipient of foreign investment in 2009, attracting $95 billion of foreign capital.

On the other hand, China seeks to expand exports and overseas investment. Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that China's outbound direct investment surged by 24 percent to $55.18 billion during the first six months of 2010, mainly in the sectors of mining, commercial services, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail.

This is the context for China's diplomacy “maintaining stable economic growth and promoting development”. Expanding economic influence support China's effort to amplify its voice on global affairs, defending its interests and strengthening the country's image as a responsible international power. Economic diplomacy is linked in particular to peace and development in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Major Official Visits of Chinese Leaders in 2010

Jan 5-14: Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visited Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Maldives;

Mar 17-28: Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visited Cambodia, Laos, Palestine, Israel and India;

Mar 20-30: Vice President Xi Jinping visited Russia, Belarus, Finland and Sweden;

Mar 21-Apr 1: Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, visited Cameroon, Namibia and South Africa;

Apr 12-17: President Hu Jintao attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington and the Second BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Summit in Brasilia, and visited Brazil.

(From April 17-18, President Hu should have visited Venezuela and Chile, but the trip was deferred because of the earthquake in Qinghai Province. On April 22-25, Premier Wen Jiabao was scheduled to visit Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar, but it was postponed because of the earthquake.)

May 8-9: President Hu Jintao attended the ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 in Moscow, Russia;

May 28-Jun 3, Premier Wen Jiabao paid a formal visit to South Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Myanmar and attended the third China-Japan-South Korea Summit in Jeju Island, South Korea;

Jun 5-19: He Guoqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, visited Italy, Iceland, Norway, Lithuania and Turkmenistan;

Jun 8: State Councilor Dai Bingguo took part in the third summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia, which was held in Istanbul, Turkey;

Jun 9-11: President Hu Jintao visited Uzbekistan and attended the 10th Meeting of the Council of Heads of States of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan;

Jun 9-21: Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang visited Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Greece and Austria;

Jun 14-24: Vice President Xi Jinping visited Bangladesh, Laos, New Zealand and Australia;

Jun 23-27: President Hu Jintao visited Canada and took part in the fourth summit of Group of Twenty (G20) in Toronto;

Jul7-2:, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, visited France, Serbia and Switzerland and also attended the third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, Switzerland;

Jul 20-27: State Councilor Dai Bingguo visited Ethiopia, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia;

Jul 25-Aug 4: Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visits Austria, Mexico, Cuba and Costa Rica.