Author: Ming Shuyuan official account: Ming shuzatan wechat id:laomingdashu
(Bruno, chief trade representative of Italy in China, and Ms. Yu, Jingdong lucky consumer)
For people living in today’s world, whether lucky or unlucky, we have caught up with a “great change that has not been seen in a century”.
Driven by globalization, industrialization, science and technology, industrial revolution and other factors, the international pattern is undergoing irreversible changes.
A large number of emerging markets and developing countries have joined the new round of industrialization, achieved a leap in national development, and become an emerging force outside the original single level and multipolar world.
On the whole, the trend of “rising in the East and falling in the west” in the international pattern is becoming increasingly obvious. Among them, the collective rise of emerging markets and developing countries represented by China has become the most significant change in the international pattern since the end of World War II.
How should the United States and other western developed countries face such major changes in the international pattern?
What does China’s steady realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation mean to the world?
Since trump took office in 2016, the United States has begun to form a united front with China, the United States, Europe and Japan, in an attempt to isolate, encircle, suppress and contain China. How should China respond?
At this moment, everyone who is concerned about the international situation is very worried:
——Will the world return to the old path of confrontation between great powers?
——Will there be a fundamental reversal of globalization?
——Will countries abandon mutual benefit and win-win results and turn to beggar thy neighbor?
——Will confrontation and conflict eventually replace peace and development, become the theme of the new era, and bring havoc to human society again?
……
Graham Allison, a professor of Harvard University in the United States, led the team to study the cases of the rise of great powers in the past 500 years, and finally came to a frustrating conclusion.
Alison’s research shows that since 1500, there have been 16 cases of the rise of great powers around the world, 12 of which have triggered wars.
Since human society entered the modern era, when the original hegemonic countries declined relatively and new powers rose, it often brought about drastic changes in the international pattern, drastic adjustments in international relations, and even eventually led to conflicts.
This is the so-called “Thucydides trap” in international relations.
However, there are great differences between eastern and Western thinking.
From the perspective of China, there has never been a “trap” in the world. The key is that man-made things.
As far as China is concerned, between countries, cooperation will benefit both sides, while fighting will hurt both.
In the “great changes not seen in a century”, China has always maintained strategic determination and strategic rationality, and has always advocated replacing zero sum game with mutual benefit and win-win results with a highly responsible attitude towards its own people and the people of the world.
China’s choice is to “open the door and take the main road”, deepen reform at home and open wider to the outside world.
To realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, China must continue to maintain a good momentum of development. However, the fundamental purpose of China’s development is not to compete with other countries for regional and global hegemony, but to enable more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to live a better life. At the same time, China firmly hopes that through mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, China’s development will also benefit the people of other countries and regions.
Therefore, we can clearly see that the more people in the international community clamor for “decoupling” and incite to fight the “new cold war”, the more China firmly chooses to expand the cake of mutual benefit and win-win results with other countries and regions, using “made in China”, “created in China”, “market in China” and “consumption in China” to contribute to world peace, development and prosperity.
At present, China US relations have attracted much attention, but in fact, the relationship between China and the EU is also of great significance.
How the two major economies of China and Europe interact will not only directly affect the vital interests of nearly 2billion people on both sides, but also have a significant impact on China US relations and the international pattern.
In the final analysis, although China and the EU have different political systems, ideologies and values, China and the EU are located at both ends of the Eurasian continent, and there are no irreconcilable geopolitical contradictions between the two sides. Over the past few decades, China and the EU have brought tangible benefits to their respective peoples through continuously strengthening practical cooperation.
This period of time coincides with the “618” Shopping Festival in China. I saw a very interesting phenomenon.
In recent years, online shopping has become a new consumption mode for Chinese consumers, creating a new development path for many industries and enterprises, and creating new development opportunities for a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises. It is increasingly becoming an indispensable part of China’s real economy.
During the “618” Shopping Festival in 2022, envoys of some EU member states in China also “do as the Romans do in Rome”, seizing the opportunity to become the “chief marketing officer” of their own products, they sold their own unique products to China’s huge consumer groups on jd.com.
(Danish ambassador to China Ma Lei delivers the butter cookies ordered by Mr. Jin in Jingdong at his official residence)
During this period, the European Union Embassy in China, as well as the embassies in China of France, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary and other EU Member States, have paid attention to the 618 Shopping Festival, invited lucky consumers to the embassy with JD. Com to bring closer the relationship with Chinese consumers in a new way and provide a platform for the quality of domestic products.
At present, JD has opened 65 national pavilions, of which 16 are from EU countries. According to the data released by jd.com, from the sales volume on the jd.com platform in the past year, the most popular European imported foods for Chinese consumers are dairy products, candy, biscuits and black tea. From the point of origin, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark are the largest source countries.
(Dutch Deputy Ambassador goroko and consumer Ms. Wang push curling at the embassy)
In 2021, the China EU agreement on geographical indications came into force. The first batch of China EU mutual recognition of 100 landmark products, that is, these products have obtained the certification of origin and enjoy a high degree of intellectual property protection. In the future, Chinese consumers will be able to enjoy more and more authentic European food in China through online shopping.
It is reported that the China EU agreement on geographical indications has effectively promoted the growth of China EU agricultural trade since its entry into force one year ago. JD wine, fresh food, global shopping and other businesses actively introduce European high-quality brands and certified goods to provide rich, green and safe imported products with characteristics for Chinese consumers. In terms of export, JD international business has made great efforts to develop new infrastructure at sea and build global supply chain capacity, which can also help many Chinese landmark products such as Chibi green brick tea and Yibin sprouts enter the European market.
JD’s goal is to “sell goods all over the world and sell goods all over the world.” From the perspective of the whole industry, e-commerce can play a greater role in promoting trade exchanges and promoting friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries.
At present, the international situation is facing many challenges and the prospect is “foggy”. The news that the envoys of the European Union and its member states in China promote their own products through jd.com undoubtedly has become a bright color in the current Sino foreign exchanges and cooperation.
People who care about the international situation know that “seeing the big from the small” can be interpreted from three aspects:
First, it fully shows that although the current international situation is undergoing severe and complex changes, the mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between China and the EU has not stopped. High quality products from EU countries have entered thousands of households in China through Chinese Internet platforms such as jd.com, which not only promotes China EU economic and trade cooperation, but also facilitates China EU people to people and cultural exchanges;
Second, it fully shows that although China and the EU have different political systems, ideologies and values, the people of both sides share the same goal of pursuing peace, development and prosperity. China EU cooperation is in the fundamental and long-term interests of the Chinese and European people. The European Union and its member states’ envoys in China promote their products to Chinese consumers on the JD platform, which not only enriches China’s consumer market, but also opens a “convenient door” for EU countries to expand exports to China;
Third, it fully demonstrates that China’s development is not a threat but an opportunity for other countries. Over the past 44 years of reform and opening up, China has not only become a “world factory”, but also a “world market”, and “Chinese consumers” are becoming an important force to promote world economic growth. At present, China has become the world’s largest trading country and the largest consumer market. China’s sustained, stable and healthy economic growth is not only conducive to the Chinese people’s pursuit of a better life, but also conducive to other countries enjoying more “China opportunities” and “China dividends”.
In fact, around China, “China opportunities” and “China dividends” have become more and more obvious.
In 2021, ASEAN will continue to become China’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume reaching US $878.2 billion.
Thanks to this mutually beneficial and win-win practical cooperation, ASEAN countries and China share a high degree of consensus in maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting regional development and prosperity.
In 2021, the EU was China’s second largest trading partner, and the bilateral trade volume in that year was US $828.1 billion, slightly lower than that of ASEAN. However, in the first two months of 2022, China EU trade maintained a rapid growth. Therefore, the EU once surpassed ASEAN and once again became China’s largest trading partner.
It is worth noting that according to the data in 2021, both ASEAN and EU have surpassed the United States in China’s foreign trade.
We also hope that, based on the broad common interests of China and the EU in economic, trade and other fields, the EU will continue to stand on the right side of history in its relations with China.
No matter how the international situation changes, China has been striving to become a positive force in the world today.
In the “great changes not seen in a century”, China’s answer to the questions raised at the beginning of this article has always been very clear:
——No matter how the international situation changes, China has always insisted on “opening the door and taking the main road”. China’s reform and opening-up will never go backwards, and “closing the door to the outside world” is unlikely to become the choice of contemporary China;
——In state to state relations, China hopes to establish a relationship of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation” with all countries. China should cooperate, not confront; China should win-win and not harm each other;
——No matter how complex the international situation is, China has always used a high degree of certainty in its own development to cope with various uncertainties in the external world. From “made in China” to “created in China”, from “world factory” to “world market”, every step of China’s positive development is also an important step for China to bring more “China dividends” and “China opportunities” to the world.
In the “great changes not seen in a century”, the hope for peace, cooperation, development and prosperity is still the “greatest common denominator” among people all over the world, which is also the trend and trend of world development today.
It is hoped that far sighted politicians and entrepreneurs from all over the world can follow this historical trend and trend, walk in the same direction as China, and work for the benefit of the people of all countries.