China's new journey creates fresh opportunities for world: Chinese ambassador

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng delivers remarks at a breakfast briefing hosted by the Advanced Medical Technology Association in Washington, D.C., the United States, on June 28, 2023. (Photo credit: Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America)

Chinese modernization is only possible with continued opening up. China simply has no reason to close its door, even when some other countries are trying to close their doors on China, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng said.

WASHINGTON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng said at a recent event that China's new journey will not only reinvigorate its own new development, but also create fresh opportunities for the world.

Xie delivered the remarks at a breakfast briefing hosted Wednesday by the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) at invitation.

The ambassador said that since the start of this year, China's economy has rebounded strongly and kicked off to a good start. Its GDP grew 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter, and the number for the second quarter is expected to outperform that. The World Bank has predicted China's economy to grow at 5.6 percent this year. China's huge market, well-functioning industrial system and rich talent pool make it irreplaceable, and the fundamentals sustaining its long-term growth remain strong. In recent months, a number of executives of multinational companies have been visiting China, casting votes of confidence in China's economy.

Xie said that opening up is China's fundamental national policy. As a major trading partner of over 140 countries and regions and the primary export market of over 50, China is deeply integrated into international industrial and supply chains. Chinese modernization is only possible with continued opening up. China simply has no reason to close its door, even when some other countries are trying to close their doors on China. China will continue to pursue high-standard opening up, further expand market access, better protect the rights and interests of foreign investors, and foster a market-oriented, law-based business environment in keeping with international standards.

China will actively seek to join the CPTPP and DEPA, and steadily expand institutional opening up by aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules. In the first five months, the actual investment in China from France, Britain and Canada grew respectively 430 percent, 179 percent and 170 percent year on year. This speaks volumes about international confidence in and expectation for China's growth prospects. It also shows how various sides value the huge opportunities unlocked by China's economic recovery and the constant improvement of its business environment, he said.

China-U.S. medical cooperation enjoys vast potential, the ambassador said. Putting people's health front and center in building a modern country, China is taking solid steps to advance the Healthy China initiative. According to a report by the international consultancy Roland Berger, China's medical device market is projected to exceed 320 billion U.S. dollars by 2030, making China potentially the largest medical device market globally. Demographically, about 260 million of China's population are over 60 years old, and the number will exceed 300 million by 2035. Also, China's middle-income population will go beyond 800 million in the coming 15 years. The steady and fast surge in the demand for high-quality medicine and services will open up an unprecedented market space for the medical technology sector.

Xie said that entrepreneurs are known for their foresight, courage and open mind. Such entrepreneurship is exactly what the world needs today. As a Chinese proverb goes, "Harmony brings wealth." The atmosphere of China-U.S. relations bears on everyone. When the overall atmosphere is good, companies can do business a lot easier. When the bilateral relationship gets worse, the business community can hardly stay unaffected. Friends from the business community need to be "responsible stakeholders" in the China-U.S. relationship. They are encouraged to stay fair and pragmatic and take real actions, so as to uphold common interests, champion market economy and free trade, and help bring China-U.S. relations back to the right track, for the benefit of both peoples and the world.

AdvaMed is the largest medical technology association in the United States, representing 80 percent of American medical device and diagnostic companies. Among its over 450 member businesses, many are Fortune 500 companies.