| Fadley Faisal in the People’s Republic of China |
CHINA’S Silk Road, which has a 2,000 year history, was introduced by a German geographer. China today wants to preserve this age-old legacy.
The Communist Party of China, the heart of the central government, has made reforms and opened up the country’s doors to foreign investment, first in the 1980s, and more recently with President Xi Jinping’s reinforcing of reforms with the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative.
China’s economy has entered a state of “the new normal”, characterised by medium- to high-speed growth, optimised and upgraded structure, new economic drivers and multiple challenges. This economic state will bring opportunities to the world’s economic recovery.
China has a vision of sharing its “new normal” economic state by way of mutual interest and cooperation in the economic development of each willing participant country. The idea of One Belt, One Road is to create a community of common destiny through China’s strategy of inclusion.
Journalists from 10 Asean member countries, including myself – representing Brunei Darussalam, were invited to join a group of local China Report Asean journalists and officials from the Asean-China Centre (ACC) to tour places of interest and local industries, as well as exemplary trade zones and cities in the Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of the People’s Republic of China from April 17 to 27.
The theme of the visit was ‘China-Asean Media Journey on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road 2017,’ and it was the third media tour of its kind organised.
The tours are meant to realise President Xi Jinping’s vision of reviving the ancient Silk Road by incorporating modern transportation and communications – in this case, through the power of the media.
Asean journalists as well as members of China Report Asean and the Asean China Centre while in the People’s Republic of China. – CHINA REPORT ASEAN
I was the only journalist to have had the chance to be in the company of the presidents of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from various East Asian and a few Asean countries during this trip – my second under the China Association for International Understanding’s (CAFIU) invitation.
The first was a media cooperation invitation to global media representatives by the People’s Daily for discussions over the One Belt, One Road initiative.
In my personal opinion, the 21st Century boasts a better chance for global trade despite the financial crises along the way, especially with China – currently in its economic state of the “New Normal” – deciding to further solidify its opening-up policy particularly in the areas of trade and economic cooperation.
The modern Silk Road – if I may term it as so – is the bridge between China and the West.
The One Belt, One Road policy links China to Europe by way of Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa, with a ‘win-win’ situation being its ultimate aim. This reality might not be immediately realised, however, and the initiative needs to be given time before benefits for all parties can be seen.
Brunei on the other hand, being a small country with one of the highest GDPs, has been overhauling its infrastructure to improve communication and transportation, and utilising its oil riches to implement Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects as a measure to diversify away from an over-dependence on the oil and gas industry.
Brunei, with her high purchasing power, offers China good FDI opportunities; it is a mutually beneficial economic alliance, particularly considering the expertise of China’s giant corporations, with their R&D capabilities.
Brunei is also able to sell products and services to the Chinese market, most notably via its multimillion-dollar Brunei Halal business. Brunei’s Halal industry is regarded as one of the best – if not the best – globally.
China has recognised the point of contact in China-Asean relations set up five years ago to deepen cooperation. ACC has today lived up to its name, emerging as a key focal point in China-Asean trade efforts.
ACC Secretary-General Yang Xiuping, speaking at a reception marking the fifth anniversary of the Asean-China Centre on November 3, 2016, said Asean member countries and China are close neighbours with profound friendship.
The sustained development of Asean-China Strategic Partnership has given strong impetus to ACC’s work. This year is the 25th anniversary of Asean-China dialogue relations and the Year of Educational Exchange. Moreover, it marks the start of the Asean Community and China’s 13th Five-Year Plan.
In this crucial year of building on past achievements to pave the way for new progress, ACC has made enormous efforts to implement 19 flagship projects and to organise or participate in more than 100 activities – which have produced good results.
The ACC, in its 2016 annual report, stated that the trade volume between Asean and China reached USD452.2 billion and accumulated two-way investment exceeding USD170 billion.
China has for a number of years been Asean’s largest trading partner, while Asean has been China’s third largest trading partner. Asean is also China’s fourth largest export market and second largest source of imports.
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