The Chinese economy has become very energetic after the implementation of the Reform and Opening-up Policy 30 years ago, and Chinese traditional culture has contributed a lot to its prosperity. Furthermore, global economic governance will benefit greatly from its intangible wisdom in several of the following ways:
1) Chinese culture condemns pursuing self-profit by hurting others’ interests:
During the Asian Financial Crisis, the whole of East Asia was under the risk of currency devaluation. When faced with the pressure of decreasing imports and raising the unemployment rate, China still claimed a stable exchange rate of the Chinese currency (RMB), and delivered help to other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, etc. China will continue contributing to global economic order and stabilization.
2) Chinese culture advocates building good neighborliness:
The financial crisis of 2008 produced a lot of negative influence on the global economy: trade protectionism and self-benefit quantitative easing policy constantly affect the economy. The construction of the AIIB, however, accelerates the interaction of policy, establishment, trade, capital, and culture between countries and economic entities. China developed the AIIB with the responsibility to share resources, enhance corporation, and ensure global governance.
3) Chinese culture encourages harmony in diversity:
Some critics state that China is planning to start another international financial system and disturb current global relationships. In fact, the establishment of the AIIB is not intended to start everything all over again, but refine the global economic structure and amend some unreasonable rules. The AIIB is special in many distinct ways: evaluation of loans will not be subject to any political conditions; national conditions and other different conditions such as political system, culture and religion, will be treated equally with respect and protection. The AIIB allows a diversity of backgrounds to work together.
[END TRANSLATION]
My Thoughts and Reflections…
By Siyu Luo
October 28, 2016
China is a country with an ancient civilization that has a long history of cultures, which indeed exerts influence on Chinese behavior style. Education is one of the most important elements shaping a person’s thoughts and values, and China continuously pays attention to education, especially strengthen traditional sculpturing from an early age of every child.
On the other hand, Chinese traditional culture inspires the country and has done so for many centuries. China has experienced ups and downs throughout its long history, and Chinese people are taught to bear hardships and work diligently to overcome difficult times. After the First Opium War, the Chinese government was forced to sign a series of unequal treaties, and until the Communist Party established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 1949, China still had nothing to feed its people. However, the traditional culture endured and continues to motivate the Chinese people to struggle for the dream of one day becoming a big power. One of the most impressive examples: China spent only two years and eight months from success of the atomic bomb on 1964 to the success of hydrogen bomb, compare to the Soviet Union who spent four years, and the United States who spent seven years and four months, China made the miracle and thus becoming the fifth country in the world who owns nuclear weapon.
Nowadays, China is not merely focused on its domestic development, but also in taking a larger responsibility in global development. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is one example of this commitment. As a developing country in Asia, China can (and should) stand out in sharing infrastructure construction resources, as well as representing the interests of other developing countries to benefit from the global economy. This sense of responsibility comes from the Chinese spirit, transmitted throughout the generations- the spirit of sharing resources, helping others out, and respecting differences.
What’s worth mentioning is that several current governing approaches implemented by Chinese government are far from perfect. Furthermore, China has a significant social responsibility to conserve energy and reduce emissions, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, as well as close this same gap between cities and suburbs. More importantly, aside from Chinese traditional culture, China also needs to draw lessons from global development and other diversified cultures. By doing so, I believe that China can play an indispensable role in the worldwide innovations for peace and development.