The world is going through a period of major development, reform and adjustment. With the growth of multi-polarisation and economic globalisation, China and other emerging countries are clearly set to play much more important roles in the second decade of the 21st century. And there have been many different predictions as to what this future world will look like.
Some forecasts suggest that, as China represents the developing countries and the United States the developed ones, China and the U.S. should co-lead the world under some sort of a “G2” arrangement. But this kind of narrative really isn’t consistent with reality, nor with China’s independent foreign policy of peace and the general trend towards a multipolar world and democratic international relations.
When our premier Wen Jiabao visited the Czech capital Prague in May 2009 for the eleventh China-EU summit he explained to our European friends that China disagrees with the whole G2 idea. In doing so, he fully demonstrated China’s firm intention never to seek hegemony, and also our principle of opposing any domination of international affairs by just a few countries. His remarks also underlined the great importance China attaches to Europe.
Europe has a splendid and time-honoured civilisation, and the European Union is a major player on today’s world stage. The progressive deepening of EU integration has brought a dynamic vigour to the European continent, and even though the EU currently faces a number of difficulties it still boasts extraordinary overall strength and international influence.
China attaches great importance to developing its relations with the EU. Beijing has always supported European integration and hopes that the EU will play an even greater role in international affairs so it can become a major pillar in the world of the future. China’s huge home market and its labour resources have created important opportunities for Europe, and in the wake of the international financial crisis and the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis, China has bought government bonds, made direct investments, and sent business delegations to Europe. During Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero’s visit to Beijing in April of this year, Wen Jiabao reaffirmed China’s willingness to continue purchasing Spanish government bonds as a further demonstration of our support for Europe’s efforts to emerge from its sovereign debt crisis.
Looking back on their 36-year history, China-EU relations are amongst the most stable and influential bi-lateral ties between any major powers. Our strategic relations can be said to be constantly growing and moving forward to the mutual benefit of both.
In this new multi-polar era, it is of even greater importance and urgency that China and Europe should work together. On the Chinese side, we pointed out not long ago that China and Europe are now at a critical stage if they are to deepen their co-operation. What we do to share opportunities, meet challenges, and pursue development will be directly relevant not just to the welfare of our own peoples but also to the future of the whole world. China-EU co-operation is going to be an essential part of maintaining world peace and stability. We are committed to the resolution of international “hotspot” issues through political means, and we have already both played a constructive role when addressing global challenges like climate change, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The parallel launching of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan and Europe’s 2020 Strategy has also given a strong push to the deepening of our co-operation. China and Europe worked together during the international financial crisis to tide the global system over its difficulties, oppose protectionism and promote the reform of the international financial system, thus making an important contribution to world economic recovery. In my view, this sort of co-operation between China and Europe has increasing significance for the maintenance of world peace and the promotion of worldwide economic development.
Like many countries, China takes its relations with the United States very seriously. China-U.S. relations are among the most important bi-lateral ties anywhere in the international community. China-U.S. relations have gone through rough patches since diplomatic ties were established in 1979, but overall they have kept growing. Today there are greater common interests than ever, and encouraging prospects for still broader co-operation.
When President Hu Jintao visited the U.S. at the start of this year, he and President Barack Obama decided to build a China-U.S. co-operative partnership based on respect and mutual benefit. They reaffirmed their respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and reached a number of agreements on major strategic issues that included strengthening co-operation in the Asia Pacific region as well as in multilateral institutions, and jointly responding to regional as well as global challenges.
China is the world’s largest developing country, Europe the largest bloc of developed countries, and the United States the largest single developed country. Our combined populations account for nearly a third of mankind and our economic aggregate is two-thirds of the total world economy. As the three major global powers, China, Europe and the U.S. must strengthen their own co-ordination and co-operation and also work with the rest of the world to face the complex international issues that challenge us all. Relations between China, Europe and the U.S. are not mutually exclusive, but rather they are complementary, mutually reinforcing, and conducive to win-win solutions. It is not a matter of winners and losers, still less a game of containment through alliances. Together we must shoulder the great task of upholding world peace and promoting common development.
China is committed to its own independent foreign policy of peace. But it cannot achieve development in isolation from the world, while the world cannot develop without China. Hu Jintao once said that the 21st century should be a century of peace, development and co-operation, and China is willing to join hands with the EU, the U.S. and the rest of the world to explore the opportunities and potential of a harmonious world.