Xi's written interview with Irish Times
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E-mail Xinhua, February 20, 2012
Q: While China is enjoying fast growth, some EU countries, including Ireland, are in the midst of a sovereign debt crisis. Some EU countries face serious difficulties. In China' s view, has the EU become less important? What kind of Europe does China hope to see?
A: It is true that the EU now faces some difficulties and challenges and there are some pessimistic voices about Europe in the world, but the EU has a high degree of political consensus on overcoming difficulties and crisis and on preserving and advancing European integration.
China does not think one should "talk down" or "short" to Europe, because we believe that the difficulties facing Europe are temporary, and the EU and the governments and people across Europe have the ability, the wisdom, and the means, to solve the sovereign debt problem and achieve economic recovery and growth.
The EU is the world' s largest economy and China' s top trading partner. With the development of China-EU relations and continued expansion of bilateral cooperation, the EU will be even more important for China.
China takes its relationship with Europe as one of the strategic priorities of its diplomacy, and supports the process of European integration and the efforts of EU members, Ireland included, to overcome difficulties and achieve economic recovery.
We have offered sincere help to our European friends in line with our means, through increased mutual investment and business cooperation.
China will continue to support, in its own way, efforts of the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in addressing the European debt problem. A Europe that is united, stable and prosperous will definitely make a valuable contribution to the strong, balanced and sustainable growth of the world economy.
Q: How would you characterise China' s development achievements?
A: China has made tremendous achievements in development over the past 60 years since the founding of the People' s Republic of China, particularly in the past 30 years and more since the beginning of reform and opening up. China' s GDP is now the second-largest in the world, and the livelihood of the Chinese people has improved substantially.
Once living in poverty, the 1.3 billion Chinese people today not only have adequate food and clothing, but also enjoy a life of moderate prosperity, and their right to subsistence and development has been effectively guaranteed.
Progress has also been made in improving the socialist democratic system with Chinese features, evidenced by continued expansion of political participation by the general public who make proposals on the development of the country and keep an effective watch over the work of government.
China remains the largest developing country in the world. It has a large population, a low starting point in development, and its development is uneven between its different regions. China is not rich in natural resources. Its per capita recoverable reserves of crude oil and natural gas are less than one-tenth of the world' s average, and its per capita renewable fresh-water resources only one-third of the world' s average.
China' s per capita GDP ranks below the 90th in the world, and there are still 150 million people living on less than one dollar a day. In China, any development achievement, however big, will become very small when divided by 1.3 billion, the size of its population. And any problem, however small it may be, will become very big once multiplied by 1.3 billion.
That is why China is proud of the achievements it has made through hard work and, at the same time, it is soberly aware of the problems and difficulties in the process of development.
Q: Recent statistics show the quarterly decline in China' s economic growth last year. Some worry that the slowdown in China' s economy may have a negative impact on global economic recovery. Will China continue to provide opportunities for the world with its development?
A: China' s economy grew by 10.4 percent in 2010 and 9.2 percent in 2011 year on year. The slowdown in China' s economic growth was, to a large extent, the result of our own macro-control measures. At the same time, the notable weakening in external demand, the slowdown in domestic investment demand, and difficulties in increasing domestic consumption all affected economic growth to varying degrees.
In each of the past five years China contributed to over 20 percent of global growth, thus becoming an important engine for world economic development. Starting from this year, we have lowered the target of economic growth. This will help reduce the pressure in terms of price, energy, resources and the environment. It will also help us accelerate the shift in growth model and increase the quality and efficiency of economic development.
The overall approach to China' s economic and social development this year is to seek steady progress and there will not be a drastic fall in the growth rate. China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for pursuing development, and will enjoy many favourable conditions to maintain stable and relatively fast economic growth for a fairly long period of time. In the next five years, China' s total imports will reach 8 trillion U.S. dollars, and its annual overseas investment will exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars.
This means an even bigger market and a lot more opportunities for the world and broader space for cooperation.
For Ireland and other European countries, China is a force they can cooperate with in tackling the crisis and achieving recovery, and a partner they can trust in international and multilateral affairs.
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