“Special Chinese characteristics”
Li's statement that China will “promote a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized” should be contrasted with the simultaneous desire to “build a high-level socialist market economy” and “a modern business system with distinctive Chinese characteristics.”
He also promised to “provide stronger guidance and support on quality and standards to create more Chinese brands with global reach.” But “distinctive Chinese characteristics” or “Chinese characteristics” can only refer to the authoritarianism of China’s political system and the opacity and data falsification in its economic system. It also suggests that Chinese companies will not only remain subject to the CCP, but will also continue to roam the globe to acquire natural resources and cutting-edge technology or companies that produce such technologies through fair or unfair means. This can only be a recipe for further problems and tensions in China's relations with other countries.
To find a suitable replacement
Although Li says China will “fully engage in the reform of the World Trade Organization and promote the construction of an open global economy,” in practice China prefers bilateral agreements such as free trade agreements and multilateral agreements that it can lead or oversee. Therefore, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative, associated institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank, as well as initiatives such as the Chinese digital yuan or China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System should be considered as part the Chinese effort to find a suitable replacement for the Bretton Woods system, the US dollar and the SWIFT banking service.
All these interests are evident in the emphasis on the “healthy development of cross-border e-commerce” and the application of “the negative list for cross-border trade in services”. The aim is to further improve China's economic connection to the economies of neighboring countries and to deepen its presence in the economies as well as to reduce the scope for competitors.
A buffer for China
The desire to “expand our security capabilities in key areas” includes establishing a national grain reserve system, ensuring that “China's food supply remains firmly in our own hands,” improving cyber and data security, and ensuring the security and stability of Industry and industrial supply chains. Given the nature of the Chinese party-state, each of these measures should be understood as measures to protect China from the international environment, even at the expense of other countries if necessary. More broadly, this suggests that China has little faith in globalization or interdependence – despite frequent rhetoric to the contrary – and should give pause to those excited by the Chinese prime minister's stated support for foreign trade and investment.
China is now a pioneer and leader in many green and low-carbon industries, including electric vehicles and energy storage devices. Given its role as a leading source of critical minerals, there are advantages that China can take advantage of. One of them, for example, concerns global climate policy, in which, as Li emphasizes, China has “actively participated and promoted”. The reference here to promoting the “use and international mutual recognition of green energy” should be understood as Chinese interest in setting global standards to promote the use of Chinese infrastructure, services and standards over competing options.
Diploma
At a meeting of the National People's Congress last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that “security is the foundation of development,” drawing greater attention to the close links between economic and security interests in the Chinese ecosystem. There has been relatively little such hard-line rhetoric this year, but it is important to emphasize that ties remain strong and important to the ruling CCP. If one reads Li's work report closely, it adds to the growing evidence from China that China's economic policy, even when it comes to global reach and reforms of global institutions, is less about these things than about securing the CCP's regime interests a leadership role for China in international bodies. and undermine rivals.
(This is the second part of a two-part series on the “Report on the Work of the Government,” presented March 5 at the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, China.)
(Jabin T Jacob is Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, and Director, Center for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi-NCR. X: @jabinjacobt)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
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