Editor's Note: The Communist Party of China will hold its 19th National Congress on Oct 18. In the runup to the meeting, China Daily asked prominent company executives to provide their views on economic developments here and the country's global leadership role. The first two are Jeremy Hunter, president for Henkel Greater China, and Thierry Garnier, president and CEO of Carrefour China.
What has been China's biggest achievement during the past five years and what is its most notable change? [Special Coverage]
Jeremy Hunter: It has to be China's transformation toward becoming an innovation-fueled economy. China is upgrading its manufacturing industry to become more high-end, environmentally friendly, intelligent and service-based. This is shifting focus from "productivity expansion" to "productivity enhancement".
Thierry Garnier: During the past five years, I was deeply impressed by the energy, speed and innovation of China. The rapid economic development demonstrates the vitality of China's market.
The past five years saw the emergence of services designed to help consumers. The introduction of shared bicycles solves "the last mile "problem. The development of O2O (online to offline businesses) makes life more convenient.
For enterprises like us, this offers a wide spectrum of reference data, based on the purchasing habits of customers. This enables us to have a sharper insight into their needs.
What three words would you use to describe China today?
Hunter: Innovative would be one. China is shifting toward an innovation-driven economy. For example, the country is arguably the world's leader in e-commerce and mobile payment, as well as the home of leading internet companies such as Alibaba (Group Holding Ltd) and Tencent (Holdings Ltd).
Sustainable would be another. China has prioritized sustainable development as an important part of its national agenda.
Finally, I would say collaborative. China is becoming an increasingly important force to foster regional and international cooperation.
Garnier: Innovation, openness and happiness represent the feature of China today. Entrepreneurs are seeking to propagate Chinese culture, commodities and concepts worldwide with innovations.
Meanwhile, they also modestly absorb technologies and cultures from around the world, and actively communicate and cooperate with nations worldwide.
What is the biggest challenge China faces and how can the country overcome it?
Hunter: As continued economic expansion exerts an increasing strain on the environment, one of China's biggest challenges will be to balance economic growth with sustainability. This is not limited to China, but applies to all countries around the world.
To overcome this, we need innovative solutions to optimize our processes and reduce, if not eliminate, environmental impact. We also need policy and societal support to achieve our goals together. China is already making progress in overcoming this challenge.
Garnier: China has been confronted with the issue of balancing its eastern and western economic development. Recent years witnessed the efforts of the Chinese government to narrow the gap between its western and eastern regions, with significant success. The rapid progress of China's digital and transport technologies will help transfer the resources of rich areas to western regions in a better way.
