Chinese President Xi Jinping assured Peru that “attempts to block economic cooperation under all kinds of pretexts and dismantle world interdependence are only a setback”, and called in Lima for a solution “inclusive”. economic and universally beneficial globalization.
Xi made a speech delivered at the side business meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meetingwhich is celebrated these days in the Peruvian capital, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
According to him, Economic globalization must be steered “in the right direction” in the face of “serious challenges” which threaten it in this new period of “turbulence and transformation” at the global level. “It’s like sailing upstream: you either move forward or drift downstream.”he assured.
In this regard, Xi called for more confidence in globalization: “We must ensure that generates more positive results and that it is brought to a new phase, more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable.
XI called to make innovation the engine of global growthhelp developing countries improve their scientific and technological capabilities, reform global economic governance systems, give more representation and voice to the “Global South”, protect industrial and supply chains or resolve imbalances between poor countries and rich countries.
“You can’t reach the global prosperity when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. True development means the common development of all countries,” insisted the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
“Where will the economy of the Asia-Pacific region go? That’s a decision we have to make” The Chinese leader said, calling the region an “interdependent community with common interests and a shared future.”
Likewise, he requested that the area continue to be the “locomotive” of globalization economically in the future.
Xi attributed the “success” of Asia-Pacific economies to “our firm commitment to peace and stability in the region, to our continued practices of genuine multilateralism and open regionalism, as well as our deep belief in the trend of economic globalization and mutual benefits and success.
“As long as we act with spirit of openness and connection, The Pacific will become a highway to greater prosperity and growth,” Xi said, predicting another “30 golden years” of development for the region.
Calls to combat demographic decline
For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping described the demographic crisis as “vital issue” for the country and requested efforts to fight against the decline in the birth rate and the size of the population, which is no longer the largest in the world after India surpassed it last year.
Qiushi, the theory and information magazine of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), published this Saturday a article with separate speech that the Chinese president spoke in May last year before the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs.
The president recognizes that China’s demographic trend has shifted from one of expansion to one of decline, marked by the collapse of the fertility rate – in historic lows even after the end of the one-child policy, aging and regional demographic imbalances.
“The transformation of the population is rapid and population reduction occurred earlier than expectedbut it generally follows the model of modernization on a global scale,” says Xi, who reaffirms that the family planning policies promoted by Beijing for decades have been “correct and effective.”
The situation will lead negative impacts on development following a reduction in the workforce or a reduction in the inertia of consumption and investments, he underlines.
However, Xi also sees “some positive effects” in reducing the population, giving as an example a less pressure on resources and the environment or the need to move to an “intensive” economic development model.
“We can’t just look at things from one side. We need to look at some long-term issues and we cannot be in a hurry to draw conclusions“, indicated the also general secretary of the CPC, who asked to “work to maximize benefits and avoid damage” in demographic matters.
China closed 2023 with 1,409.7 million inhabitants, or 0.14% less than in 2022, a year in which the population has already declined by 850,000 people, marking the first decline since 1961, when the failure of the Great Leap Forward policy caused significant famines.
The Asian giant allows its citizens from 2021 to have a third childalthough the decision was not received with much enthusiasm by the population, due to both the economic burden of parenthood and the priority given to career.
In 2023, the official number of births was 9.02 million, the lowest since the beginning of the historical series in 1949.
At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, held in 2022, the ruling party stressed that the country needs a system that “increases birth rates and reduce the costs of pregnancy, childbirth, schooling and parenting”.
Agreements with Japan
Additionally, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on Friday to strengthen “mutually beneficial” tiesduring the first meeting between the two leaders, as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting, which is taking place in Lima, Peru.
In his opening speech to the meeting, Ishiba said that “Japan and China have an important responsibility for peace and prosperity of the region and the international community,” and added that “there is great potential for development between the two countries.”
At the same time, the Japanese president stressed that there was “challenges and concerns” adding that “China and Japan should share the overall leadership of comprehensively promoting a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests and building a constructive and stable relationship.”
“I would like to build a relationship with President Xi where we can have a frank dialogue and repeated. People’s understanding and sympathy are essential to the steady progress of Japan-China relations. “I would like to work together to achieve concrete results,” the Japanese president said.
Xi, for his part, congratulated Ishiba after his election as Prime Minister and said that “amid great changes in the international and regional situation, China-Japan relations are at a critical moment for their improvement and development.”
“China and Japan wish to maintain the important common understanding that we will be partners and not threats to each other.”“We will comprehensively advance our mutually beneficial strategic relationship and build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era,” said the president of the Asian giant.
After the meeting, Ishiba made a statement to local media in which he said he had expressed his concerns about the situation to Xi. increasingly aggressive military maneuvers of China in waters near Japan.
“There are many differences of opinion between Japan and China. But despite them, I agreed with President Xi to continue to hold more meetings,” Ishiba said, to which the Beijing government said it was ready to cooperate.
Issues of their bilateral policy were also discussed, such as China bans import of fish and seafood from Japan and which came into force after the start of the discharge of treated water from the damaged Fukushima power plant.
In September, China declared that Japanese imports of seafood products would restart “gradually” after imposing a blanket ban about a year ago, previously being the largest importer of these Japanese products.
