Denis Simon: Sci-tech innovation injects surging momentum into China’s development｜My Memory of China

By Chen Caixia 

(ECNS)—“China has seen lots of progress in 2023,” said Denis Simon, distinguished fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies, in an exclusive interview with China News Network recently.

For the coming year, Simon expects China would continue to build a level playing field to achieve a greater level of openness, strengthen science and technology cooperation with other countries, and play a role as a facilitator of peace and stability in the Middle East and in other regional issues. 

Review and Challenges: Three major issues shape the international agenda 

Looking back on the year 2023, Simon summarized three major issues that have affected the nature of international affairs.  

The first is the changing landscape of international relations, he said. The world began a transition away from the U.S.-dominated Bretton Woods system. “We are now entering a period of fundamental change. And the new system is being affected by things like the rise of China, the BRICS countries, and the expanded involvement of other countries all around the globe,” said Simon.

The second issue is that the world is walking away from the era of globalization while entering a“fragmented globalization” phase. Since the 1970s, globalization has been the major driving force in international relations, but now something new has emerged. Many countries are trying to figure out whether they want to maintain open borders.

The third is the rise of security issues. Security issues used to fill in the domain of national defense, but it has invaded into the areas of trade, foreign investment, and even education cooperation. In 2023, many countries made some major adjustments to their foreign policy, and in the way that they think about the future and participate in international affairs.

Eye-catching “report card”: Innovation injects momentum to China’s development

 

 

During the past year, there were a bunch of key events that are particularly important for China. In March, the First Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) announced the line-up of new government leaders and the adoption of a series of institutional reforms. In May, C919, China’s self-developed large passenger aircraft, completed its inaugural commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing. In October, China held the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

“When I think of China in 2023, the first word that comes to my mind is transition,” Simon said. “China is in a transitional phase that it's trying to move out from the Covid experience and trying to find a new foundation that will support its long-term economic growth and technological advancement.”

Simon said another word that comes to his mind is “shift”. The word is evident in trade patterns and the way China participates in the global supply chain. China is trying to identify new ways to globally engage. And it is also shifting towards greater domestic consumption. China has a high saving rate and it could unleash some of that savings to support domestic consumption, which will be a generator of China’s growth in the future.

Simon also mentioned China has seen lots of progress in 2023 in terms of its own technological advance.

Firstly, China has become a dominant player in terms of electric vehicles not only domestically, but also across the globe.

Secondly, Simon believes China has made remarkable progress in space and it is going to be a major player in the coming years.

Thirdly, Simon emphasized a lot of activities in artificial intelligence. “We’re going to see China becoming part of a global dialogue in which there’s further discussion about the dos and don’ts of deploying artificial intelligence,” he said.

Looking forward to 2024, what could China do to take the initiative in a changing world?

“For 2024, I think it is going to be a challenging year. First and most important, in terms of the business community, China going to have to continue to build a so-called level playing field. The second thing that China is going to have to do is to improve its environment for international students. A third area is science and technology cooperation. The effort to create three international talent hubs in China, that’s also a part of the openness,” concluded Simon.

For the coming year, Simon also expects China could be a facilitator of peace and stability and try to play its role in places like Ukraine and in the Middle East.