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Striving for Development and Prosperity Through
Cooperation
Shanghai,China, October 18, 2001
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,
You are gathered here this evening by
the beautiful Huangpu River for APEC CEO Summit 2001. On behalf
of the Chinese Government and people as well as in my own
name, I would like first to extend a warm welcome to you all.
I have attended many sessions of the APEC
CEO Summit to discuss the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation
and development with business leaders in the region. This
time, APEC CEO Summit 2001 Shanghai is devoted to New Century,
New Economy: Developing in a Globalizing World, which is of
great significance. At the last APEC CEO Summit in Brunei,
I made some observations on the New Economy and economic globalization.
Today I wish to further elaborate on this subject.
Mankind has entered a new century. This
is not merely a chronological change. It marks a new era of
economic development and social advancement for the international
community. This new era distinguishes itself from others by
a growing trend towards a multi-polar world and economic globalization,
and, particularly, by the rapid progress in science and technology.
All these have laid unprecedented material
and technological conditions for continued economic and social
progress worldwide and promise a broad prospect. The scientific
and technological progress is bringing a profound impact on
economic, political and cultural life of all human societies.
To develop the New Economy, we must not only update our economy
with advanced science and technology, but also, in response
to this new trend of development, revamp the economic structures,
systems and mechanisms accordingly, readjust the economic
relationships between states and between enterprises, and
update our philosophies and concepts for economic and technological
cooperation across national boundaries.
The past one hundred years and more have
witnessed considerable expansion of global productive forces,
unprecedented achievements in the production of both material
and spiritual wealth and significant improvement in the living
conditions of mankind. It must be noted, however, that in
spite of rapid advancement of productive forces and science
and technology worldwide, development has all along remained
uneven and, what is more, the North-South gap has kept widening
instead of narrowing. Poverty and hunger have been a commonplace
in developing countries. People are still plagued by regional
conflicts, environmental degradation and transnational crimes,
among others. The development of high-tech industries is faced
with some problems, such as relatively insufficient effective
demand. All this shows that in order to ensure that all peoples
in the world benefit from the progress of the productive forces
and, particularly, of science and technology, and achieve
common development, it is imperative to reform and renovate
the economic systems, structures and mechanisms while developing
new technologies and new industries.
In this connection, the key lies in a
full implementation of the spirit of development through multilateral
cooperation in world economic affairs. All countries or regions,
regardless of ethnicity, history, culture, social system and
level of economic development, should respect each other,
seek common ground while setting aside differences, learn
from each other to offset their own weakness, coexist peacefully,
work for the establishment of a new, fair and rational international
political and economic order and strive for common growth
and prosperity through consultations and cooperation. Here
in lies not only the fundamental solution to the problems
in the world economic development, but also an essential condition
for development of the New Economy in the new century.
Against the backdrop of growing economic
globalization, trade liberalization has attracted increasing
attention. To put economic globalization and trade liberalization
in their right perspective is of overarching importance to
a healthy development of the global economy. They are generally
conducive to world economic development. But one must not
overlook that given the unevenness of global economic development,
any improper handling of this process will bring a negative
impact on developing countries and small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). In view of this, the WTO, APEC and national
governments should give full regard to the interests of the
"vulnerable" countries and peoples while pushing
forward economic globalization and trade liberalization.
There are two possible development scenarios
for the process of economic globalization and trade liberalization.
If the process moves along a rational track, it may not only
allocate world resources more effectively and fairly and expand
the productive forces of all countries, but also promote the
establishment of a global multilateral trading system and
of a new, just and rational international economic order to
the benefit of people of all countries. But if it should be
allowed to proceed along an irrational way, it may aggravate
the uneven distribution of world resources and an unbalanced
economic development, widen the gap between the North and
the South, sharpen the polarization between the rich and the
poor and cause further environmental degradation.
Without any doubt, we should opt for and
facilitate the former scenario and guard against the latter.
We must carry forward the spirit of development through cooperation
and vigorously strengthen economic and technical cooperation.
And we must make mutually beneficial cooperation a part and
parcel of economic globalization and trade liberalization
so as to ensure their sound development.
The inception and growth of APEC conform
to the trend of our times and testify to the spirit of development
through cooperation. In a mere decade, APEC has grown to a
key economic cooperation forum in the world, boasting 21 members
in the Asia-Pacific, and contributing significantly to the
economic development in this region and the world at large.
Facts have proved that development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific
needs APEC. As the most important inter-governmental mechanism
for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, APEC's very
existence and development help maintain regional peace and
stability and promote economic growth in this region.
If APEC is to maintain and enhance its
vitality, it must stick to its cooperation approach suited
to the realities of this region, constantly enrich its agenda
for economic cooperation in light of developments and changes,
and strengthen the communication between governments and enterprises
so as to benefit all its members.
China is the most populous developing
country in the world. China cannot develop itself in isolation
of the world, and the world also needs China for its development.
We sincerely hope to see increased cooperation with all other
APEC members and all the countries and regions in the world
for common development. After over two decades of reform and
opening up, the Chinese economy and China's overall national
strength have grown substantially with an ever-expanding market.
In recent years in particular, China has redoubled its efforts
to expand domestic demand and imports, and it has managed
to maintain the momentum of a sustained, rapid and sound economic
development. China has entered a new stage of development
in which it is building a well-to-do society across the country
and speeding up the socialist modernization drive. China has
drawn up a blueprint for development in the next five years.
It will unswervingly focus on development and carry out restructuring
all the way through with reform, opening up and advances in
science and technology as the driving force and the improvement
of the living standard of people as the fundamental objective.
It will continue to promote economic growth and social progress.
We have full confidence in the prospects for China's development
in the new century.
After more than ten years of hard work,
the negotiations on China's accession to the WTO have been
concluded. China's accession will herald a new stage for China's
opening up. China will participate in international economic
cooperation and division of labor on a larger scale and in
greater depth. With a view to effectively fulfilling its WTO
obligations and commitments, China is reviewing and amending,
where necessary, existing laws and regulations as required
by the WTO rules. Provisions of Chinese laws inconsistent
with the WTO rules or our commitments will be amended to achieve
consistency. All those that may contravene the WTO rules or
our commitments will be abrogated. In case of absence of laws
or regulations for the WTO purpose, new legislation will be
enacted. We will continue to work hard to develop with all
other countries and regions in the world an economic relationship
that features cooperation, mutual benefit, all-win and common
prosperity.
Closer cooperation between enterprises
is a major trend in the enterprise development today. Many
entrepreneurs believe that although competition among enterprises
is important, cooperation is even more so and that there is
a bigger scope for cooperation than for competition. This
is a sensible and well-grounded view. Given the development
of economic globalization and the New Economy, enterprises
can hardly succeed without good cooperative relations with
other enterprises.
China will develop its economy further
and open itself still wider to the outside world, which offers
more business opportunities to overseas enterprises. Since
China's reform and opening up, Chinese enterprises have vigorously
undertaken Ecotech with overseas enterprises and scored tremendous
achievements. While helping Chinese enterprises develop, overseas
enterprises have also benefited from it, hence mutual benefit
and all-win. At this APEC CEO Summit, you will discuss the
important matter of world economic development and you will
also discuss how to strengthen mutual cooperation. The Chinese
Government stands ready to continue to offer facilities and
necessary conditions for closer cooperation between Chinese
enterprises and their overseas counterparts.
To conclude, I wish the Summit a complete
success!
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