Premier Li's Go game analogy makes much sense

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference after the closing session of the annual National People's Congress, at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, March 15, 2015. [Photo By Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

At his press conference marking the conclusion of the annual session of the National People's Congress on Sunday, Premier Li Keqiang compared the development of the country's economy to the Chinese game of Go when explaining how his cabinet should do a better job in keeping its economy in sound shape. A player needs two "eyes" to keep his formations alive in a game of Go, and Li said that stabilizing economic growth and adjusting economic structure are the two "eyes" necessary for the healthy development of China's economy.

The premier made a vivid and proper analogy, one that applies not only to China's strategy for economic development but also its diplomacy.

As the country's economy slows, the priority for the government is to keep its growth stable in order to prevent unemployment from rising. But at the same time, it is imperative to optimize the structure for the long-term sustainability of the economy.

So the part of economy driven by investment and real estate still has to be maintained. But more efforts will have to be made to update its manufacturing industries and its service sector so that its economy will be competitive and sustainable in the long run.

When it comes to the country's relations with the rest of the world, its independent diplomacy of peace also needs efforts on two fronts. One is for China to do whatever it can to work with the majority of countries, major ones such as the United States and Russia in particular, to maintain and promote world peace. While the increasing international obligations China has shouldered, such as its United Nations peace-keeping missions and the efforts it has made to help the settlement of regional conflicts, represent what the country has been doing on the other front.

It is not just because China needs a peaceful environment for development. It is also because China, as the largest developing country, considers it is its responsibility to make as much contribution as it can to promote world peace.

To sum up, as a developing country with more than 2 million people still living under the World Bank's poverty line, doing a good job in maintaining the sound growth of its economy to guarantee the long-term prosperity of its people is itself a contribution China has made to the world. While as a responsible power, it is exerting its influence to build a better world. These are the two "eyes" of its broad world-oriented Go game strategy.