Global South is gravitating toward China

While Western powers pursue a hostile policy based on a zero-sum-game mentality and a false sense of superiority, China is seen as a leader among equals

In the just concluded third plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, certain aspects pertaining to the role of China in the world were discussed. China's development has brought with it strategic opportunities, risks and challenges. On the one hand, China and the rest of the world are in a symbiotic relationship where one's gain is the other's gain. At the same time, given the openly hostile attitude of some of China's largest trade partners in the West, namely the United States and the European Union, China has no choice but to be a pivot for the emerging Global South while keeping open the option of stabilizing relations with the West based on equality and respect.

To understand how China will respond to these challenges and opportunities, it is important to understand where China is in its long evolutionary journey toward modernization. China's economy accounted for over 17 percent of world GDP last year and is continuing to grow. China is the world's manufacturing superpower with an output of 35 percent of total global output. Chinese companies are the world leaders in almost all infrastructure engineering and construction machinery, in telecommunications, and soon in space-based navigation and aerospace and nuclear technology sectors.

But this is just the temporary tip of the iceberg. The third plenary session's emphasis was on accelerating science and technology development, innovation, talent development in every aspect of China's economy and cultural advancement, which will supercharge China's future development. When advancements in artificial intelligence, digitalization and robotics start permeating the whole industrial sector of China, productivity will increase by leaps and bounds. In addition, new scientific breakthroughs in areas that are under development, like fusion power, new materials, and biotechnology (including agriculture), will move the Chinese economy into a completely new platform of development. This will have an enormous impact on the world economy too.

Another noteworthy takeaway from the third plenary session is that China will be embarking on refining the mechanisms for high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. While the details of this decision are not public yet, we already know about the evolving role of the BRI as one of the greatest development initiatives in history. The first decade of the BRI witnessed an unprecedented global infrastructure development process connecting nations, regions and continents. However, the ultimate goal was not simply the promotion of trade, but lifting the world economy, especially in the Global South, to a higher level.

A high-quality BRI means that Africa and other nations of the Global South will leverage their comparative advantages to achieve industrialization, eliminate poverty and raise the living standard for their people. China has responded by exporting capital, technology, and know-how to these nations. Therefore, we now see industrial parks built by Chinese companies and employing local workers popping up in different parts of Africa, such as in Egypt, Ethiopia and Uganda. Nations of the Global South are gradually abandoning the role assigned to them by the unipolar world order as exporters of cheap raw materials and importers of expensive finished goods. China is not just "offshoring" low-end production capacity to the Global South, but building the necessary infrastructure and developing the skilled labor necessary for these nations to reach industrialization. The China-backed industrial park in the Ugandan town of Mbale wouldn't have been possible without the construction of the Karuma hydropower plant and the 370 kilometer-long transmission lines, nor without training the local labor force.

Let's take one example to understand how China's rise contributes to the rise of the Global South. In education, especially in natural sciences, engineering, and agricultural science, in 2018 Chinese universities surpassed both US and UK universities in the number of African students they enrolled. Recent data show that among students from regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia, China is now seen as a preferred education destination, not just due to financial incentives but because of the quality of education. The number of self-funded international students has almost doubled in just 10 years, standing at almost 430,000 in 2018, as opposed to the 63,000 students receiving scholarships.

The economic rise of the Global South, with China leading the pack, is a factor to be reckoned with today. Not only BRICS, but many other nations in Asia, Africa and America are joining the ranks. What the nations of the Global South see in China is a peaceful and stable partner with a long-term vision of development. What is new is that China's rise, for example, becomes a tide that lifts all other boats, because China is sharing the fruits of its development with other nations. This is not only a show of compassion and respect, but a concrete translation of the scientific-economic principle of win-win cooperation, that China's prosperity depends on the prosperity of other nations.

As reckoned at the beginning, China cannot prosper as an island in a sea of poverty and conflicts. China does not fear open competition, because its self-confidence is based on its hard work and clear vision of progress. No matter whether the Western powers continue to pursue a hostile policy based on a zero-sum-game mentality and a false sense of superiority, China will continue and accelerate its cooperation with the Global South that is increasingly gravitating toward it as a leader among equals.

The author is vice-chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden and a distinguished research fellow at the Guangdong Institute of International Strategies. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.