Prospering together

When he met with a South Korean entrepreneur in Beijing last month, Liu Jinsong, director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, said that in addition to the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, China will host the annual Boao Forum for Asia and the China-ASEAN Expo this year.

"These major events will provide important platforms for China to deepen exchanges and cooperation with other countries", and "businesses from Asian countries are enjoying multiple enabling factors in their cooperation with China", Liu was quoted as saying in a news release on the Foreign Ministry's website.

Chinese officials and scholars said opening to the outside world is a win-win situation for both China and its foreign partners, and by China spreading its arms and reach to the world, both sides enjoy many mutual benefits.

From 2001 to 2021, the first 20 years after China's accession to the World Trade Organization, the country's total economic output rose from sixth largest in the world to second largest, and it has become a major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Between 2013 and 2021, China's annual contribution to global economic growth averaged 38.6 percent, larger than the combined contribution of the Group of Seven countries.

Although the global economy has continued to suffer from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the past year, major international exhibitions such as the Canton Fair and the China International Import Expo were held as scheduled, providing highlights amid the global economic downturn, experts said.

Yang Guangbin, a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee and dean of the School of International Relations at the Renmin University of China, said, "Instead of taking a winner-takes-all approach, China is sincerely committed to building the Belt and Road together in order to promote the common development of countries along the routes.

"China has proved its ability by co-founding the buildup of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the community with a shared future for humanity it advocates is also an approach to adjusting the established world order that features some inequalities. China has become an important player in perfecting the established order."

Observers have noted that the international situation has become increasingly complex at a time when global peace and development are facing serious challenges, including the spillover effect of the lingering Ukraine crisis and US coercion and verbal attacks on China.

Zhao Mei, a senior research fellow with the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, said, "The external environment for China's economic development is facing dire challenges, and world peace and development are undergoing the most severe tests since the end of the Cold War."

She pointed out that "the changes in China-US relations are the most prominent part of the changing global landscape not seen in a century. At present, China-US ties are faced with serious challenges, and the international community also has many misunderstandings about China's development and China's path for development."

The National Security Strategy Report released by the Biden administration last year claimed that China "harbors the intention and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order in favor of one that tilts the global playing field to its benefit", Zhao noted.

"There's still a long way to go in telling the Chinese story to the world in an effective manner," she said.