China will continue to open its doors ‘wider’ to foreign investors despite the rising protectionism

by DASHVEENJIT KAUR/ pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

NO WINNER would come out of the US-China trade war as tariffs and other actions by either party would only backfire on everyone, including the Americans.

Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian (picture) said since last year, the US had unilaterally provoked the trade disputes with China, and blatantly resorting to “economy bullying in the name of so-called free trade”.

“The trade war has been on and off for more than a year now. Yet, the US side always backtracks and raises their already unreasonable demands whenever an agreement is in the air, showing zero credibility,” he said at the New Inclusive Asia Dialogue conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Bai said when leaders from China and the US reached an agreement during the 2019 Group of 20 Osaka summit in June, both sides agreed to resume trade talks based on equality and mutual respect, and that the US would not impose new tariffs on Chinese imports.

He said in less than two months, however, the Trump administration had backtracked again with an imposition of another 10% tariff on US$300 billion (RM1.26 trillion) of Chinese imports.

“I hope the present US administration could realise this fact as soon as possible and rein in their actions.

“And I also believe the Asian countries have already chosen wisely between openness and isolation, between inclusiveness and exclusiveness, between win-win cooperation and selfish egoism,” Bai said.

Either way, he said China will continue to open its doors “wider” to foreign investors despite the rising protectionism around the world and the country’s escalating trade conflict with the US.

Bai said China is also looking forward to join hands with Asian countries in promoting trade and investment facilitation, while accelerating the process of regional free trade zone, as well as strengthening regional and sub-regional cooperation.

He added that China will also maintain a steady, sound and sustainable economic growth, and continue to spearhead Asian economic development despite the pessimistic tones about the Chinese economy.

“Many begin to worry if the Chinese economy could hold the pressure. Firstly, China will continue to play its role as the engine of development of Asia.

“China has been the biggest contributor to the economic development in Asia for the past two decades. It currently contributes 50% of the growth in Asia,” Bai said.

China is currently the largest trading partner of 16 Asian countries and an important source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for Asian countries, according to Bai.

“For 10 consecutive years, China remains as the largest trading partner for Asean, with a trading volume of US$587.9 billion.

“Last year, Asean became the second-largest destination of Chinese foreign investment, attracting US$10.2 billion of FDI from China. For the first half of this year, Asean became the second-largest trading partner for China, surpassing the US,” he said, adding that these figures have proven that the cooperation between China and Asian countries has brought about impetus and opportunities for regional development.

Bai said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would also bring about new prospects for inclusive growth in the region.

“The Asian Development Bank estimated that Asia would need a daunting US$8 trillion of infrastructure investment between 2010 and 2020, and the inception of the BRI is thus in accordance of most countries’ needs and demands.

“By mobilising resources through cooperation and easing the development gap, the BRI aims to enable more countries and regions to harvest the fruit of global growth and globalisation in a fair, just and equal manner. It has provided new ideas and a new platform to realise inclusive growth in Asia,” he said.

For the past few years, South-East Asia alone had witnessed a series of BRI projects being implemented including the New International LandSea Trade Corridor, Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, China-Laos railway, China-Thailand railway, Hanoi Metro and a China-Brunei joint venture petrochemical plant project in Pulau Muara Besar.

“Not long ago, the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project in Malaysia just got relaunched. Upon its completion, the ECRL will promote all-around commercial, logistic, trading and tourism development along Malaysia’s East Coast, playing a pivotal role in Malaysia’s overall economy and social development,” Bai said.

He reiterated that openness and inclusiveness is the right direction for Asia as the region’s rapid development over the past decades shows that it is extremely important to open one’s doors to the outside world.

As for security challenges within the region, Bai said he hopes for more Hong Kong citizens to step forward to show their unwavering support to the Special Administrative Region government, akin to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea that are stabilising and improving.

“To many people’s dismay, the constant escalation of violence and sabotage in Hong Kong has already breached the boundary of freedom of speech and demonstration, and has deviated far from democratic values and principles.

“With the livelihood of seven million Hong Kong citizens and the country’s future on the stake, we simply cannot allow those savage acts to rage on, eventually destroying Hong Kong’s economic prosperity and social stability,” he added.

Bai said Asian countries should carry forward the “Asian way” of dealing with differences, featuring mutual respect, seeking consensus and accommodating each other’s comfort level.

“Whether it be outstanding historic issues, conflicts of interests, territorial disputes, or ethnic conflicts, we should settle all these disputes peacefully through dialogue and negotiation,” he added.