In the modern globalized and truly complicated world, which has been seriously traumatized by the financial and economic crisis, China has truly undertaken the mission of “a school of positive experience.” This country and its people have proved by their example that in the conditions of the gravest crisis the GDP growth may reach 9 percent, with the export volume of $2.5 trillion, i.e., a 21-percent increase compared to the last year.
Why is China, regardless of the world’s development trends, is becoming stronger and wealthier at the time of crisis? What will help the Celestial Empire to achieve “great unity” and nation’s prosperity? Yurii KOSTENKO, Ukraine’s ambassador to China and an accomplished diplomat, answers these and other questions in the following interview to The Day.
CHINA IS SET TO BE A DOMINANT POWER
Mr. Kostenko, you must have read in the world press about different post-crisis scenarios for humankind’s development. Many of them say that the world system will be stabilized thanks to a condominium called Chimerica (a combination of China and America).
“I don’t want to move our conversation to hypothetic rails, because this problem is extremely complicated and multifaceted, so much so we cannot analyze it in a well-grounded way. I will say only that, in my opinion, this way is not an exception—just the other way around. I will give you some numbers.
“Back in 2005 China moved to the third place in the world in terms of foreign trade turnover ($750 billion with a positive surplus of $100 billion). Thus, its turnover growth makes 30 percent a year. This means that China has already outstripped Japan and very soon will take a lead over the US, i.e., it will become the world’s biggest exporter.
“The Chinese leaders plan that in 2020 the export level will reach $5 trillion, with 50 percent going to the high technology products. Thus, it is clear even to a naked eye that China is going to be a dominant player in the world.”
Doesn’t it seem to you that as a result of China’s incredible “leap” to a new industrial level, many things in our views of the world should change considerably? Emergence of a powerful player may lead to a change of accents even in the secret and mysterious world of finances. I mean the emergence of a new currency.
“This problem has not accidentally become the subject of broad debates on the pages of the world mass media. The total of China’s gold reserve has exceeded $800 billion. Furthermore, the high rates of this country’s development are connected not only with huge foreign investments, but also with extremely high indices of accumulation norm, which is higher than 40 percent. Thus, the grounds for considering a new, perhaps regional, currency have been gradually taking shape—this is a fact. But I won’t be predicting whether any appears in the near future.”
HU JINTAO’S NEW STRATEGIC DOCTRINE
It is known that the most recent, 17th congress of the Communist Party of China was unanimously pronounced a congress of renewal, although for nearly three decades China has been increasing the rates of development and economic strength. What is this renewal about?
“This is a very interesting question. Let us analyze the methods, or tools, China has been achieving success with in the past decades. I think that the first place should be given to the cheap working force, which has been, truly, making wonders. In the past several years, for example, China has built 55,000 kilometers of express highways. Today only several countries of the world have such high-level transport routes. China has built the world’s first high-altitude railway Qinghai–Tibet, part of which is 5,000 meters above the sea level, so the passengers use oxygen masks.
“The world’s highest TV tower was built in Shanghai, and one of the world’s biggest dams, which is two kilometers long, is being constructed on the Yangtze River. These and many other examples belong to various spheres, and they are extremely costly in terms of working force, and all these unique projects have been successfully realized precisely thanks to the above-mentioned factors.
“For a long while, a rapid economic growth was achieved with the help of old-fashioned methods, which do not meet the modern trends and challenges. The major minus was that the technological and, most, importantly, social progress were extremely slow. In other words, the living standard of the Chinese people has not changed and has been paradoxically low while the country has experienced super high rates of development.
“What is the essence of the new strategic doctrine of Hu Jintao? Above all, it is a shift from extensive methods of economic development to intensive ones, and this means that China is switching to an innovative model of social development. Science, knowledge, technologies, methodologies, etc. were given the green light. The concept of scientific development has been identified as the main direction of work for the near future.”
CHINA WILL HAVE A NEW TYPE OF SOCIETY
Do you mean the realization of Hu Jintao’s concept to build harmonious society with special Chinese features? What is it about?
“China will build a new type of society, a society that is based on high moral values, its own historic tradition, and absolutely positive relations between human beings, as well as between humans and nature. These are typically Confucian values of social harmony, social equity, care for the nation and its interests, humane rule, or rather serving own people.”
I have heard that the city of Suzhou has the Humble Administrator’s Garden. It is known that gardens were a sort of monuments. I believe that such a beneficent official indeed existed. How has the criterion of temperance been incorporated into the life of Chinese politicians?
“China had a special code of laws on luxury, which regulated everything, including the number of silk tassels on the hats of noblemen of different ranks. These laws together with others worked perfectly and created all the necessary conditions for science, culture, education, crafts, etc. to flourish. This was the time when China grew in power.”
FORMING OF A NEW IDEOLOGY AND THE HARMONY OF SOCIAL INTERESTS
Thank you for an interesting story and let us return to the present time. Does the state “renewal” program have well-defined terms? In a sense, it speaks about forming a new ideology, which is much more complicated than build a most modern skyscraper.
“You have rightly pointed out that the program of forming a new ideology is a long-term program. It will cover a certain period, during which the Chinese society will have to achieve the ‘harmony of social interests’ and only after that, according to Confucius, will the age ‘Da tun,’ the age of ‘great joy,’ come. There is no doubt that these ideological principles will determine China’s domestic and foreign activities in the future.”
SEVEN TASKS TO IMPLEMENT THE “STABILIZATION PACKAGE”
The 17th congress challenged the Chinese people to take the position of the world’s leader. What concrete measures is China taking today in the period of unprecedented crisis?
“Last November, Wen Jiabao, Premier of China’s State Council, set out seven tasks to implement the so-called ‘stabilization package,’ which include, specifically, an increase in capital investments and optimization of the investment structure, raising the consumer demand, well-balanced development of the real estate market, preserving tendencies of stable export growth, increasing qualitative indices of companies’ operations and their competitiveness, essential improvement of the financial sector’s performance, and active reforms of the key social spheres (transfer to a new VAT system and implementation of the health care reform). Within a month a new block of state policy guidelines for the current year was available:
— strengthening and improving macroeconomic regulation (implementation of an active financial and ‘moderate’ monetary policies, significant increase of state expenditures and financing of priority branches and projects of infrastructural development);
— changing the country’s model of economic growth and implementation of the strategic regulation of the economic structure (I am speaking about the fact that the fulfillment of tactical tasks on preserving the rates of economic growth cannot be grounds for changing China’s strategic course);
— deepening reforms, improving mechanisms to realize the concept of scientific development;
— solving the social problems of the population with an aim to secure socioeconomic stability in the country (increasing the level of employment, making the system of social security more available, increasing the population’s education level, improving medical care, and increasing the safety of the food products).”
“SOFT POWER” COMBINED WITH REVIVAL AND PROSPERITY OF THE CHINESE NATION
Has China abandoned its practice of purchasing such giants as IBM and Exxon Mobil?
“I think that one thing does not impede the other one. Obviously, today China has a much greater possibility to invest into RD and construction works that the US, let alone Europe. Moreover, a colossal number of Chinese specialists are studying, doing internships, and obtaining scholarly degrees in the US, Great Britain, Germany, etc. We have many Chinese students in Ukraine. This is high-quality personnel with up-to-date knowledge in the spheres of management, high technology, informatics, and banking and the core of the intellectual-technocratic elite, whose representatives take high-ranking state offices in the country. This favors economic progress, improves the social status of society, and preserves sociopolitical stability.”
Will this strategy of accumulating soft power be realized as a component of the state policy?
“Surely it will, because hundred of Confucius institutes have been opened in the world. A special chancellery attached to the Chinese government is tasked with promoting the Chinese language. All this means that China is making huge efforts to form the image of a country that is a civilized participant in all global processes.”
