Deepening China’s reform: Global opportunities and implications for Africa
Peter Kagwanja
Certainly, the world is at an inflection point. We also live in an age of pessimism and cynicism. In contrast, China, the world’s second largest economy, has maintained a deep sense of optimism, despite all the challenges the world is facing.
The same sense of hope was evident in the recently concluded third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) convened in Beijing on July 15-18. This optimism is not without justification though. The Chinese economy has steadily recovered and progressed from the COVID-19-era slowdown, with its GDP registering an increase of 5.0 percent in the first half of this year. Moreover, China is pursuing and deepening reform and opening-up on all fronts. This recovery is riding on China’s new commitment to advance high-quality growth, focusing on technological innovation and green development, and soaring on the wings of win-win partnerships globally.
Beijing’s sense of optimism is neither naive nor oblivious to the myriad and grave global challenges facing the world today. The coming 2024 U.S. presidential election in the United States in November is shrouded with uncertainty. The world is in the throes of two serious wars in Ukraine and Palestine, numerous tensions and conflicts across the world, the threat of nuclear weapons and the return of great power tensions. The world is ravaged by the impact of climate change including floods, droughts, heatwaves, pollution and pandemics. Economies at the national and global levels are facing shrinking growth prospects, weakening investment, surging debt, increasing inequality of wealth and income, hunger, poverty and food security. While the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence are likely to greatly influence the course of our world, they come with discernible risks and serious moral choices.
At the same time, our world is alive with opportunities that can be leveraged to uplift the lives of the world’s 8 billion inhabitants and create a prosperous, safe and inclusive human civilization.
We live in the most interconnected world in human history. I wish to examine four areas of global possibilities that China is leveraging to shape the emerging multipolar world order.
First, globalization offers endless opportunities for new development partnerships. It is enabling people, companies and governments of different nations to interact and collaborate in an interconnected world where people, goods and services flow and ideas know no bounds. Borders are becoming increasingly porous, allowing the movement of people and ease of transaction in goods and services across the world. China is championing globalization at a time when countries are erecting walls and turning to populism, narrow nationalism, isolationism, protectionism and other anti-globalization trends.
Second, the prospects of international business ventures have expanded. Globalization has spurred the rise of regional and international business by increasing opportunities for companies to operate in multiple countries, giving them access to new markets and resources and enhancing their influence around the world. Moreover, the new business environment has given individuals countless career opportunities, enabling them to leverage their skills and expertise, secure digital jobs, and set up their own enterprises or freelance in the gig economy.
Third, new technologies are bridging gaps faster than ever, creating opportunities across geographical boundaries. Technology, especially the internet, is driving globalization, revolutionizing communication, partnerships and the conduct of business. It lowered barriers to global markets, expanded opportunities for e-commerce and created opportunities for entrepreneurs and innovators to access huge information and carry out virtual transactions more easily and cost-efficiently. Continuing progress in artificial intelligence, blockchain and other new quality productive forces has offered limitless possibilities for global innovation. During its 2024 Two Sessions, China has decisively pivoted to the paradigm of new quality productive forces. Simply put, the new quality productive forces are about innovations in new technologies spurring productivity and efficiency across sectors in the global economy.
Fourth, cross-cultural collaborations and solidarities have offered endless opportunities for those with the vision, drive and tolerance of diversity. Cultural competence, broadly understood as the ability of individuals and systems to respond effectively across cultures, has increasingly become a vital asset globally. By respecting the values, beliefs and morals of other cultures and civilizations, cultural competence has expanded possibilities for individuals and nations to clinch business deals in the global marketplace, forge development partnerships, and conduct negotiations in the multilateral world. China has recognized cultural competence as an important global public good. It is investing in language learning and intercultural training through Confucius Institutes and other cross-cultural institutions to expand people-to-people exchanges.
China has adopted four major initiatives as its global public goods, which help stabilize the world and foster a global community of shared future. In 2013, China launched the Belt and Road Initiative to connect Asia with Africa, Europe, and even Latin America via land and maritime networks with the aim of improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth.
In 2021, the Chinese government launched its Global Development Initiative to help the world overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, adhere to the people-centered approach and provide global public goods to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. China has also proposed the Global Security Initiative as a framework to promote global stability and address common security challenges, as well as the Global Civilization Initiative, which helps humanity uphold the principles of multilateralism and international solidarity.
This year, China and Africa will hold the tri-annual summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, which will invariably underscore the need to enhance all-round cooperation between the two sides. The FOCAC summit will offer a unique opportunity for Africa and China to recommit to sharing knowledge, technology and visions to deepen their reforms and modernization in the new era.
*Peter Kagwanja is the president and chief executive at the Africa Policy Institute.
