Common prosperity: China, model for other countries – Forum

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By Fortune Abang

A forum of international guest speakers on Friday adjudged China’s strategy for common prosperity to be a model for other countries.

The forum held in Beijing, China was organised by the Chinese Global Television Network (CGTN), in furtherance of the 2023 national two sessions on “Modernisation toward common prosperity for all people.”

The event with the theme, “China Agenda”, centered on China’s modernisation masterplan and its significance to the world in general.

It examined the outcomes of this year’s two sessions and how they fit into China’s blueprint for modernisation

According to the speakers, China’s adherence to common prosperity is people-oriented.

They said the results were of benefit to the whole world, adding that such benefits were worth referencing.

A guest speaker, Alessandro Teixeira, a former Brazilian Minister of Development Industry and Foreign Trade, said China’s development over the past few decades had proven to be feasible for the realisation of common prosperity for all people.

“China’s modernisation focuses on universal issues such as poverty eradication and climate change response, which not only benefits China itself but its neighbours and the entire world as well.

“China’s modernisation has universal significance and value, which is expected to be a paradigm for realising humanity’s common prosperity,” Teixeira said.

Another speaker, John Ross, a British Senior Fellow at Renmin University of China, said that the Chinese-style of modernisation involved many aspects such as society, education, culture, and health.

“It has truly improved people’s livelihoods and well-being. Compared to China, the social development of the U.S. is severely imbalanced with a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

“Yet it still tries to dominate the world with its own values,” Ross said.

Also speaking, Geoffrey Hawker, Head of Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University, said the world was faced with various difficult challenges.

Hawker commended Chinese-style of modernisation to have coped well with various risks and challenges that enabled people achieve prosperity.

Michael Powers from the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University said there were notable differences between common prosperity and pure welfare society.

According to him, China’s common prosperity provided opportunities for all people to join the economic development.

“It not only relies on the traditional model of subsidising low-income groups and taxing high-income groups to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

“It is a more proactive strategy that tries to give a fair share of the interests of economic development to people in all regions and areas, which is worth learning for many, including Europe and the U.S.,” Powers said.

On his part, Peter Chai, Deputy Director of the Institute of China Studies of the University of Malaya defined common prosperity to mean inspiration to the world.

Chai said, “The idea of common prosperity is an inspiration to the development of the Global South, taking the imbalanced development between coastal and inland areas, urban and rural areas in its own country, Malaysia as an example.

“Common prosperity as proposed by China can effectively manage the huge gap between the rich and the poor. It is a very far-sighted development strategy. Developing countries can learn from China’s experiences.”

Meanwhile, Li Yong, Chief Researcher at D&G Thinktank, also commended China’s clear plan for realisation of common prosperity, suggesting efforts should be made to include all people in development processes.

“Individuals, governments, and enterprises should play an active role in promoting economic development, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a good example.

“The BRI connects China with its partners by bringing vitality to the economic development of every country.

“Enabling China and partners to thrive in cooperation, ultimately helps achieve common prosperity in all of BRI’s partner countries,” Li said.

The forum which was part of the serial activities about Chinese modernisation and the world attracted politicians, academicians, and Chinese experts from across the United Kingdom, U.S., Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, and other countries to discuss the subject.

The event attracted media organisations from 20 countries along the BRI including Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan, and the Philippines, the U.S., Brazil, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, India, among others. (NAN)