Experts call on global efforts to strengthen cooperation

Countries should focus on dialogue, multilateralism to push development, avoid recession

Facing growing risks of a global economic recession, countries must strengthen policy coordination and improve global development governance, said experts from home and abroad during a webinar.

The world needs multilateralism, peace and development instead of division, confrontation and exclusion, they said.

Themed Global Development and Win-Win Cooperation, the webinar on Monday night attracted a dozen famous scholars from the United States, Japan, India, Brazil, Italy and China. It was co-hosted by China Daily and the National Institute for Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Experts said the massive stimulus policies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by developed economies and their current tightening monetary policies to fight off record-high inflation have left narrow policy space for countries in the world to support economic recovery and societal development.

Meanwhile, some countries, like the United States, uphold protectionism, which has added more instability and uncertainty to global development, according to them.

"The world is plagued by the rising 'understanding deficit' and 'trust deficit'," said Qu Yingpu, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, in his opening remarks. "Therefore, communication and dialogue are urgently needed to build consensus, and dismantle the fences built due to a wrong perception of the global trend, thus benefiting people around the world," he said.

"In the face of such difficulties and challenges, we should practice true multilateralism, strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, jointly create a favorable international environment for development and promote the building of a new paradigm for global development governance that's inclusive and interconnected," said Zhao Qi, secretary-general of the CASS.

Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at the School of Public Affairs at Columbia University, said the world is not siding with hegemonism and wants peace and development.

"We are in a multipolar world and we need to learn to live in a multipolar world," he said.

According to him, there is a misinterpretation of China's rise in the US because some US strategists don't quite understand the economic recovery of China in current times and the history of the country.

Yet the majority of the countries around the world want multilateralism, peace and a chance to develop, he said.

The International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook, released in October, forecasted that global growth will slow to 3.2 percent in 2022, down 2.8 percentage points from 2021, and further slow to 2.7 percent in 2023.

Many countries face challenges such as high inflation, debt and problems in food and energy security, and global economic recovery is losing steam, experts said, adding that strengthening economic cooperation and policy coordination has become extremely important.

Fukunari Kimura, chief economist of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, said East Asia has led the world by aggressively introducing a task-by-task international division of labor and has achieved rapid economic growth and poverty alleviation.

Yet geopolitical tensions, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Sino-US trade disputes, are having potentially serious impacts on regional development.

He said countries need to clearly set boundaries on "decoupling" to avoid significant compliance costs and the "shrinkage effect" due to increased uncertainties.

Sachs said the US is pushing division among China, Japan and South Korea, which is very dangerous because the three countries are closely interconnected and they must have calm dialogue and close cooperation.

"If the three could cooperate together, it would be very beneficial for them and the world," he said.

Experts also said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership pact, a free trade agreement among 15 Asia-Pacific economies, as well as other FTAs, is essential in adding resilience to the global economy.

Sachs said the RCEP creates a cooperative economic, trade, investment and infrastructure group, and its members can work closely on the green economy, modern transport and digital connectivity to overcome divisions.

"The next point I would emphasize is the possibility and potential of the so-called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, which I think is a fantastic economic grouping, infrastructure grouping (and) a natural place for the Belt and Road Initiative to play a significant role," he said.

According to Yu Yongding, an academic division member of CASS, China and the European Union need to strengthen cooperation and find a proper way as soon as possible to restore progress in the China-EU comprehensive agreement on investment.

He added that China could benefit from India's rapid growth, while India also needs China for development. India should strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries in an open manner and join the RCEP.