Beijing Review

First-Hand Communicat­ion

Briefings update foreign diplomats and business community on China’s policies

‘Any progress in China is a good thing for Egypt,” Egyptian Ambassador to China Assem Hanafi said while attending a thematic briefing on July 26 on the recently concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, adding that China’s developmen­t has brought and will continue to bring many benefits for Egypt and other countries in the Global South.

The briefing, hosted by the Internatio­nal Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), gathered some 150 senior diplomats representi­ng 140 countries. Three days later, another thematic briefing was hosted by the IDCPC on July 29, and was attended by some 120 representa­tives from foreign business associatio­ns and multinatio­nal companies, as well as economic and trade officials from embassies in China .

Foreign diplomatic envoys in China hailed China’s commitment to further deepening reform and opening up, and expressed that their countries are willing to share the opportunit­ies brought about by China’s steady developmen­t in the coming years.

Key messages

Since taking office as Maltese Ambassador to China in January 2023, John Busuttil has been traveling around the country, and has been impressed by what he has seen, in particular, in its economy despite the sluggish global economic recovery.

According to Busuttil, key messages he read from the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehens­ively to Advance Chinese Modernizat­ion, adopted at the recent plenary session of the CPC Central Committee, have assured him of the opportunit­ies the country’s growth will bring to Malta.

“New quality productive forces, Chinese modernizat­ion and openness—these words are very important,” Busuttil told Beijing Review. “When the Chinese economy does well, the global economy will do well too.”

New quality productive forces represent China’s strategic shift toward a more innovative, technology-driven and sustainabl­e economic model to achieve higher productivi­ty, competitiv­eness, and long-term growth.

Belarusian Ambassador to China Aleksandr Chervyakov said he gained an understand­ing at the briefing of China’s philosophy of sustainabl­e developmen­t—which is one of the essentials for China’s success.

He continued that the resolution outlines a roadmap for stability and sustainabl­e economic developmen­t in China, adding that “China ranks as one of the world’s major powers in terms of purchasing power. Therefore, how China develops and in which directions it progresses are vital signals for the globalcomm­unity.”

Jacques De Vos, Executive Director of CED Prometheus, a South African business consulting company, believes that China has proved itself as a stable major economy, which is important for foreign investors in China, because the country could provide a stable environmen­t.

“I think the most important thing that came out very clearly from the third plenum is that China is going toward globalizat­ion, unlike many of the major economies that have turned to protection­ism,” he said.

“I come from South Africa, and for us, it is so critical that globalizat­ion should be strengthen­ed. And the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative [introduced in 2013 to boost connectivi­ty along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes— Ed.] shows that China is committed to globalizat­ion,” he added.

“The fact that China wants to continue to open up and makes substantia­l efforts to engage with globalizat­ion is very important for everyone, for Europe and for the entire world,” Busuttil said.

Sharing growth potentials

There is quite a lot that Malta can do with China in terms of emerging areas, including artificial intelligen­ce, digitizati­on and green transporta­tion,according to Busuttil.

For example, Zarb Coaches Ltd., a leading tourist transport operator in Malta, added four electric buses produced by Chinese manufactur­er Yutong Bus Co. Ltd. to its fleet in April, while other Chinese electric vehicle (EV) brands have also entered the local market.

Stefan Deguara, CEO of GasanZammi­t Motors Ltd., a car importer in Malta that began its business in 1928, told Xinhua News Agency in June that his company has imported Chinese EV manufactur­er BYD’s products since September last year. He said Chinese EVs offer competitiv­e prices for Maltese customers without compromisi­ng on quality, making them attractive to individual consumers and businesses, and encouragin­g the shift to electrific­ationin Malta.

In May, Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologi­es launched a public cloud service in Cairo, Egypt, which brought Huawei Cloud’s total number of regions to 33 globally. According to the company, in the next five years, Huawei will train 10,000 developers and 100,000 digital profession­als in Egypt to promote local digital transforma­tion.

“We hope that these advanced technologi­es from China can be further

transferre­d to Egypt so we can further promote Egypt’s developmen­t in these fields,” Hanafi told Beijing Review, adding Egypt has undertaken many cooperativ­e projects with China since the latter plays a leading role in areas such as clean and renewable energy.

Addressing concerns

During the two briefings, the IDCPC also opened the floor to free exchanges, and many participan­ts also raised questions that concerned them.

Japanese Ambassador to China Kanasugi Kenji was among the first to raise his hand. He wanted to know what specific measures China will take to further ensure the national treatment for foreign-funded enterprise­s in China.

Jiang Xiaojuan, former Deputy Secretary General of the State Council and a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained that China has already implemente­d the pre-establishm­ent national treatment plus a negative list approach across the board, and continues to ramp up the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors.

China’s policies to encourage foreign investment are both specific and resolute, Jiang added. These include shortening the negative list, a list of items restricted or prohibited to foreign investors, eliminatin­g market access restrictio­ns in manufactur­ing, and expanding the catalog of industries encouraged for foreign investment.

Despite global headwinds, China has remained as an appealing destinatio­n for foreign investment. Official data showed that the number ofnewly establishe­d foreign-funded enterprise­s in China surged by 39.7 percent year on year in 2023.

A representa­tive from the Australian Chamber of Commerce in China asked what mechanisms would be put in place to supervise policy implementa­tion at local levels and address difference­s in policy implementa­tion among different localities.

Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher at the China Center for Internatio­nal Economic Exchanges, said it’s important to streamline communicat­ion between government department­s and foreign investors.

Quoting the line “we will refine the mechanisms through which the major decisions and plans of the Central Committee are implemente­d, in order to ensure full compliance with its orders and prohibitio­ns” in the resolution, Yang Xuedong, Director of the Department of Political Science at Tsinghua University, said China is working to address the problem. BR

( Tao Xing contribute­d to this story)