Xi set to give global cooperation a boost

President Xi Jinping's participation at the G20 summit, scheduled for July 7 to 8 in Hamburg, Germany, is expected to boost confidence in the world economy and inject positive energy for global growth, observers from China and abroad say.

Xi's presence at G20 follows state visits to Russia and Germany; he also called US President Donald Trump before his departure. Xi, who chaired the previous G20 summit, has been trying to coordinate responses to various global issues before the gathering in the port city.

China is ready to use the summit as an opportunity to work with all parties to send clear signals about international economic cooperation and global economic governance, and to contribute promoting world economic growth and perfecting global economic governance, Xi said in a signed article published by German newspaper Die Welt on July 4.

President Xi Jinping meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on July 5. Xie Huanchi / Xinhua

President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrive for an official welcoming ceremony for a pair of pandas, one male and one female, at the Berlin Zoo on July 5. Xie Huanchi / Xinhua

"It is hoped the G20 continues to uphold openness and development, support multilateral trade based on the World Trade Organization, and promote the role of trade and investment as driving forces of world economic growth.

"To reinforce the improving momentum, all countries should tap into new economic driving forces through innovation," he said.

Xi wrapped up his Russia visit and arrived in Berlin on July 5 for a state visit, with China having become Germany's largest trading partner last year.

Pragmatic cooperation between China and Germany is a guiding factor in the China-Europe relationship and a great example of cooperation by leading economies, Xi said.

German cities such as Duisburg and Hamburg have become important hubs for freight train traffic between China and Europe, Xi wrote in the article

It will be the fifth time Xi attends a G20 summit as head of state after he was elected as Chinese president in 2013. During the Hamburg summit, Xi will deliver a key speech on the global economic situation and international economic cooperation. He will also hold bilateral talks with leaders from other countries on the sidelines of the summit.

Since China holds the rotating presidency of BRICS this year, Xi will hold informal meetings with leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

The president's speech at the G20 summit will present China's views and promote balanced, sustained and inclusive development of the global economy, says Vice-Foreign Minister Li Baodong.

According to Li, China has four main expectations of the summit: to give shape to the consensus reached at the G20 summit in Hangzhou last year; to build an open world economy; to promote innovation and development; and to send a positive message of G20 cooperation and coordination.

At this year's G20, China is likely to offer solutions to such issues as globalization, the revolution in artificial intelligence and sustainable development, says Chen Fengying, a researcher on the global economy at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

During the Hangzhou summit, China contributed to improving global governance by proposing innovation, structural reform and free trade, crucial elements for the recovery of the global economy, she says, adding that the success of the last summit will help leaders reach consensus in Hamburg.

In his keynote speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Xi elaborated on China's firm commitment to economic globalization and free trade, which has been widely acclaimed by the international community.

The president called on countries to "remain committed to developing global free trade and investment, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation through opening-up and resist protectionism". Trade protectionism is like "locking oneself in a dark room", Xi said in his speech at Davos.

The president has made tremendous efforts to advocate free trade and open economies on many occasions.

In a congratulatory letter to the opening session of the Boao Forum for Asia held in Hainan province in March, Xi called upon attendees to pool their wisdom for solving the major problems facing the world and regional economies, and to push forward a more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable economic globalization process.

The theme of the conference - "Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives" reflects the attention to economic globalization paid by the international community, especially Asian countries, Xi said in the letter.

In his speech at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in May, Xi called on countries to embrace the outside world with an open mind, uphold the multilateral trading regime, advance the building of free trade areas and promote liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

"Opening up brings progress, while isolation results in backwardness. For a country, opening up is like the struggle of a chrysalis breaking free from its cocoon. There will be short-term pain, but such pain will create a new life. The Belt and Road Initiative should be an open one that will achieve both economic growth and balanced development," Xi said.

The joint communique of the leaders roundtable of the Belt and Road Forum reaffirmed their shared commitment to build an open economy, ensure free and inclusive trade, and oppose all forms of protectionism including in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"We endeavor to promote a universal, rules-based, open, nondiscriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core," said the joint communique.

Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce, said in late June that during the G20 Hamburg summit, China will continue to send clear signals of support to the multilateral trade system and an open global economy.

Alexia Latortue, managing director for corporate strategy at the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, says one of the most critical challenges in delivering on infrastructure is mobilizing private finance.

"As recognized by the G20, it requires international financial institutions to work much more as catalysts for private sector investment," says Latortue.

"Working with the private sector and mobilizing private finance has been part of our DNA from the very beginning - as such, we stand ready to push forward this important work alongside G20 partners."

Bogdan Goralczyk, director of the Center for Europe at the University of Warsaw, says the Hangzhou summit has highlighted China's enhanced global role, mainly because of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"G20 Hamburg is in different times because we have several new factors to influence the outcomes," says Goralczyk.

The first factor, he says, is US president Donald Trump, with his unpredictable nature; the second is Brexit, which is also something new and needs global debate.

"The third factor is the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative - and the West is looking at China. It is something we need to respond to actively," says Goralczyk.

"While looking at G20 in Hamburg, what we find is something very surprising: China is fighting for an inclusive market of globalization while the US is starting to build a wall of national interest against free trade."

Iana Dreyer, international trade policy expert at the Institute Montaigne in Paris, says that since last year's summit, there have been obvious changes, including Trump's election win, and what Germany is trying to do now is to create as much as it can a consensus around the idea that the world still needs global open markets.

"I understand there is a lot of anxiety in Germany to get this right because there have already been difficulties in earlier G20 meetings at trade minister level, and at the G7 in Taormina, where the Trump administration was very ambivalent."

Philippe Le Corre, visiting fellow on China's foreign policy and economy diplomacy at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, says that China has been the country that has unveiled most of the interesting concepts in the past two years, including the Belt and Road Initiative, and has been organizing various global events.

"I believe China will play an increasingly active role in the G20 summit this time, and Trump is more of a bilateral expert rather than in multilateral talks."

Le Corre says the next three-and-half years will be a very interesting time - to see whether the US president will continue with his isolationist view of the world or engage with his trans-Atlantic partners.

"If he doesn't engage with them, then of course there is a chance that the role of Europe and China, which collaborate on the world stage, will be enhanced."

President Xi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be "very often on the same side" in advocating free trade and globalization at the G20 summit, while Trump has increasingly shown protectionist tendencies, say senior German business and academic leaders.

Ahead of the G20 summit, they have urged the European Union to start free trade talks with China as its ongoing negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the United States is "very difficult".

"With talk of TTIP (with the United States) being very difficult and unsure, if we (the European Union) invest the same amount of energy on China, the difference will be huge," says Hans-Jorg Schmidt-Trenz, head of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.

Schmidt-Trenz's pushing the EU to enter into a free trade agreement with China fits well with China's stance. Premier Li Keqiang has also urged the European Union to do so during his meeting with European leaders a month ago in Brussels.

However, the TTIP is still high on the agenda of the European Commission, which says that with China, the EU should follow the pattern of concluding an investment pact first before talks on a free trade agreement.

Schmidt-Trenz says with Xi and Merkel expected to fight for free trade and globalization at the summit, China and the EU should simultaneously hold talks on the investment and free trade pacts.

Ralf Fuecks, former president of Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung, Germany's green political foundation, says the world is at a crossroads ahead of the summit.

"Two fundamental things are at stake. The first is climate change after US announcing that it would leave the Paris agreement; and the other is the threat to the multilateral trade system."

"The multilateral trade system and global economic integration are at stake. I very much hope that the EU starts trade and investment talks together with China.

"The world is looking at China and Europe. They must not only deliver words but also actions."

Chinese experts have also urged the EU to reconsider its China policy and reset its priority portfolio by starting bilateral free trade talks to demonstrate both sides' commitment to globalization.

They say that such actions are essential in cushioning the rising negative impact of a string of global challenges.

"Against the fast changing global environment, the European Union must accelerate its steps to reconsider its priorities in dealing with China," Chi Fulin, president of the China Institute of Reform and Development, said at a forum in Brussels.

"I believe one pressing priority should be EU-China free trade negotiations, which the EU has already started or concluded with several Asian partners."

Regarding the China-Germany relationship, Schmidt-Trenz says contacts between China and Germany are very "high-level and very regular" as leading Cabinet members of each side hold consultations annually.

"China is the only country outside Europe that we have such a high-level meeting, which explains the importance of the Sino-German relationship," says Schmidt-Trenz.

"Even within Europe, we only have such a mechanism with our direct neighbor France. We don't do that with the United States."

He believes that Xi's visit will raise the bilateral relationship to a new high.

"Looking at the G20 summit, I am sure that President Xi and Merkel will be sharing common interests in opening markets, eliminating trade barriers and advocating free trade."

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn and fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 07/07/2017 page6)