Spotlight: LatAm experts confident in China's development, focusing on well-being, sustainability

Having established the foundation for a sound economy, China will now set its sights on improving social well-being and promoting a more sustainable development model in the coming years, Latin America's China observers have said.

Bridging the gap of inequality, fighting corruption, promoting sustainable development and improving urbanization are all issues that have come to the fore as more Chinese join the ranks of the middle class and migrate to urban centers.

SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT

Enrique Dussel Peters, a founding member and coordinator of the China-Mexico Studies Center at Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM), noted that the Asian giant has "made spectacular achievements in terms of economic growth" in the past 35 years.

With that windfall under its belt, China is well aware that further progress "will require particular attention to the matter of inequality, mass urbanization, and public sector financing" granted to local governments, Dussel told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The Two Sessions, China's important annual political meetings coming up this week, are set to tackle these issues. The fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, will begin Saturday in Beijing; and the fourth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's highest political advisory body, will begin Thursday.

Eduardo Tzili Apango, a Mexican academic and author of numerous research papers on China, said that China will assess its employment outlook, wages and poverty reduction from a social standpoint at both events.

From an economic perspective, participants will evaluate the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, foreign trade, and macroeconomic policies, especially the public-sector deficit.

Tzili acknowledged that China's social and economic conditions are complex but marked by stability. Still, the country needs to strengthen the fight against corruption on the social front and stem capital flight and stabilize the yuan on the economic front.

Economic development and environmental protection represent "an important change in the area of economic policy," he said.

"I think the Chinese government has already appraised the lack of sustainability in its previous development model, and is taking the appropriate measures" to improve oversight, he added.

BRIGHT FUTURE WITH CHALLENGES

Tzili insists that despite the many bumps on the road the future looks bright for China. "China will continue to develop and consolidate as an emerging power," he said.

"Few countries can boast of having lifted so many people out of poverty. Nevertheless, the challenge for this and future Chinese governments is to work sustainability into its development model, in addition to promoting income equality," he noted.

Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a researcher and expert in International Relations at UNAM, said both of the upcoming meetings will be key to China's push to continue reform and policy change aimed at improving well-being and keeping the income gap in check.

As part of that goal, Martinez expects China to launch new strategies in the coming years to attract more investment to the country's less-developed central region and transform from an export-driven economy to one fueled by domestic consumption.

Promoting domestic production and services "will lead to better wages and purchasing power," said Martinez, predicting that by 2018, China "will have already established the foundations for sustainable development."

Dussel concurred, noting that China has unveiled a "very substantive" package of reforms to achieve urbanization and boost services and the production of high added-value goods.

CHINA TO CONTINUE TO BENEFIT WORLD

Gustavo Girado, an Argentinean economist and director of the Asia & Argentina consultancy, said the world is feeling the benefits of a stable and growing Chinese economy, "which has been planned with political consensus."

"Until now, China has shown that its medium and long-term plans are designed with careful consideration of a number of factors without losing perspective of the overall picture," he said.

"China has decided that consumption would now drive its engine of growth, instead of public investment and exports. This will automatically spur up its private sector. This is all the more necessary to stimulate internal spending, since the economic activity of China's commercial partners has dropped of late," added Girado.

In this way, he said, China's economic stability is important for the whole world, particular its commercial partners.

"It is of great interest to Argentina for China to keep buying our products, in order to help resolve our lack of foreign reserves. Furthermore, a dynamic China will have more capacity to invest abroad, which Argentina and many other countries will benefit from," he continued.

All those experts agreed that China's global influence is on the rise.

Dussel described China as "the engine of economic growth worldwide."

"Over the past 15 years ... it has become a more dynamic country, a top exporter," he said. "Its contribution to the global economy has been spectacular."

By investing heavily to improve infrastructure in Africa and Latin America, China has also played an important role in helping developing countries reduce extreme poverty, said Martinez. Endi