Spotlight: G20, APEC meetings attest to China's commitment to world economic growth

China's pledges of medium-high rate of growth and continued opening-up is unleashing development opportunities, and its call at the G20 and APEC summits for more connectivity has manifested its commitment to world economic development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pinned down innovation as a targeted prescription for the sluggish world economy at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Sunday.

China would sustain a medium-high growth rate and continue to create opportunities for other countries, Xi pledged, at the G20 meeting, a main forum for global economic and financial cooperation.

The president also took the "China opportunities" to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting at a time when the region moves in the direction of more economic integration.

Xi spoke on the progress in implementing the "Belt and Road" initiative and the opportunities the initiative brings to the region and the world. Xi's efforts aim at boosting the morale across the region amid gloomy global economic forecast.

PRESCRIPTION FOR SLUGGISH GROWTH

In a speech titled "Innovative Growth That Benefits All," the Chinese leader pointed out that the G20 should work to maintain stable economic growth in the short term, while seeking to inject impetus into the world economy in the long term.

Xi said G20 members should seize the opportunities, and make innovation-driven development and cultivation of new growth points the new priorities of G20 cooperation.

Xi said China has the confidence and ability to sustain a medium-high growth rate and continue to create development opportunities for other countries.

The Chinese economy is predicted to grow about 7 percent this year, which will continue to contribute as high as about one third to the global growth, he said.

Yuksel Gormez, a senior economist with the Central Bank of Turkey, told Xinhua that the world should read China's economic numbers in a correct way. He said the growth in China is continuing in volume terms, although dipping in percentage terms.

"When China becomes a 20-trillion dollar economy, even a 5-percent growth will create 1 trillion dollars of net value in one year," he said.

Under the guidance of its new Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) on national economic and social development, China will adhere to a path of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and will encourage a system that nurtures innovation, said Xi.

CALLS FOR BETTER CONNECTIVITY

Addressing an APEC CEO summit on Wednesday in Manila, Xi said better connectivity will increase the potential in economic and social development.

Xi recalled that the APEC members inked last year in Beijing an agreement on enhancing physical, institutional and people-to-people connections by 2025.

The connectivity blueprint, Xi stressed, needs to be earnestly carried out in order to achieve tangible results.

"Connectivity is very important for the Asia-Pacific region's future, given many of our backward infrastructures which need to be modernized in order to liberate people from poverty," said Wilson Lee Flores, a columnist with the Philippine Star newspaper.

He said Xi's advocacy for better connectivity will accelerate the region's economic progress.

In his speech, Xi also called for efforts to boost the openness of the Asia-Pacific economy and uphold the multilateral trade regime.

Citing the "historic step forward" APEC leaders took in Beijing last year by launching the FTAAP (Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific) process and the worries about fragmentation that have been on the rise with various new regional free trade deals cropping up, Xi urged that Asia-Pacific economies "accelerate the realization of the FTAAP and take regional economic integration forward."

Meanwhile, the Chinese president pledged to "build a new system of open economy with an even higher level of openness."

Xi said that China will accelerate efforts to build high-standard free-trade agreements (FTAs).

The negotiations on upgrading the China-ASEAN FTA are almost completed, and will soon produce positive results, Xi said.

The China-Australia FTA and the China-South Korea FTA are both expected to come into force by the end of this year, giving a fresh boost to economic growth.

"China will also work with relevant parties to finish at an early date negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) while speeding up the talks on a China-Japan-South Korea FTA," Xi said. The RCEP is a free trade pact involving the 10-member ASEAN and six other countries, including China.

Xi reiterated that China's policy on foreign investment will not change. "China's doors to the outside world will forever stay open."

On the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi said China is committed to open regionalism and has signed deals with countries in and beyond the region to harmonize policies and development strategies.

"Through implementing the 'Belt and Road' initiative, we will go for even broader, deeper and more sophisticated cooperation at the regional level, and jointly foster a regional framework of open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial cooperation," said the Chinese leader. Endit