DM: The People’s Republic of China celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding on 1 October. Excellency, what is the significance of this historic event for your country?
H.E. WU Ken: In the 70 years since the founding of new China, the Chinese people have achieved great development successes through hard work and determination. The Chinese have risen up and gained prosperity and empowerment. Today, China is the second biggest economy in the world and the biggest trading partner of more than 130 countries and regions. For some years, China’s contribution to the growth of the world economy has been greater than 30 per cent. Nearly 800 million people were lifted out of poverty, which contribute to over 70 per cent of global poverty reduction and is a miracle in world history. China has the largest-scale social security system in the world, is the biggest investor in renewable energies and the biggest contributor of troops and funds to UN peacekeeping missions.
However, China continues to be the biggest developing country on earth. Our per capita GDP represents only a quarter of that of the EU. We are still facing the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development. To enable people to have a better life, China will pursue comprehensive and far-reaching reforms and high-quality development while continuing to open up. We are happy to share development opportunities with all countries and will always serve as a builder of world peace, promoter of global development and defender of the international order.
Six years ago, President Xi Jinping declared the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (‘New Silk Road’) to be one of the most important foreign and economic policy projects of your government. What is the current status of this project? Can Germany benefit from it?
The ‘New Silk Road’ (BRI), initiated by President Xi, is focused on networking and communication. Through pragmatic cooperation and intercultural exchange, we can take on the risks and challenges of humanity together. The aim is to achieve mutual benefit and joint development. In the meantime, more than 160 countries and organisations have signed over 200 BRI agreements with China. Principles such as ‘discuss together, build together, benefit together’ have been laid down in reports issued by the UN, the G20 and other international organisations. According to the World Bank, transport times along the New Silk Road can be reduced by 12 per cent, trade increased by 2.8 to 9.7 per cent and 7.6 million people lifted out of extreme poverty. The facts confirm that the initiative is not a ‘debt trap’ – on the contrary, it has helped many countries escape the ‘poverty trap’.
The BRI cooperation between China and Germany was launched early on and is now demonstrating positive results and a good perspective. Germany is a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the largest shareholder outside the region. More than 15,000 freight train journeys have been made between China and Europe, nearly 40 per cent of them between China and Germany. This project therefore proved to be an extremely effective example in jointly developing the New Silk Road. Large companies such as Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Voith, BMW and DHL are participating in the cooperation to varying degrees and in fact benefiting from it. The third market cooperation also looks promising. During her visit to Hamburg in May, Chancellor Merkel praised China for its outstanding role in transhipment at the port of Hamburg and cited Hamburg as an example for further discussions on the implementation of the New Silk Road. I believe that the New Silk Road will bring even more opportunities and prosperity to both our countries.
The Federal Republic of Germany and the People’s Republic of China established diplomatic relations 47 years ago. Today, China is Germany’s most important worldwide economic partner and the Federal Republic of Germany is China’s most important trading partner in Europe. How can their friendship and positive relations be further strengthened?
Chinese-German relations have made a good deal of progress since 1972. The bilateral relations are constantly reinvigorated, particularly since the comprehensive strategic partnership was established between the two countries during President Xi’s visit to Germany in 2014. Leading figures from both countries visit each other regularly. There are more than 70 dialogue and consultation mechanisms between the two countries. Chancellor Merkel recently visited China for the twelfth time. Despite the weak global economy, bilateral trade reached a new record high of more than 180 billion US dollars according to Chinese figures. China has already been Germany’s biggest trading partner for three years in a row, while Germany has been China’s most important trading partner in Europe for 43 years. German companies have invested in nearly 500 new projects in China over the past year. All of this demonstrates the high level of mutually beneficial cooperation.
For future success, both sides must open up to each other and drive the economic and trade cooperation forward with a pioneering spirit. In order to exploit the opportunities of the new technical and industrial revolution, we need to support innovative collaborations in the fields of digitisation, artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing and electric mobility. Furthermore, we need to think globally, adhere to the principles of equality, openness and cooperation, and enrich bilateral relations with even more strategic content. In these uncertain times, China and Germany must staunchly defend multilateralism and free trade and work together as internationally influential countries and major economic powers to build an open world economy. Our cooperation has long since grown beyond its bilateral significance; it also contributes to peace, development and prosperity in the world. Thirdly, we must continue to focus on people, given that exchanges between countries start with their people. To this end, we need to create opportunities for Chinese and Germans to meet and get to know each other, and further promote exchanges in areas such as culture, education, sport, tourism and youth.
At the G20 summit and other occasions, President Xi repeatedly emphasised that China would like to adopt measures towards increased liberalisation. What exactly are these measures, and will they open up new opportunities for Chinese-German cooperation in future?
China’s reform and opening up policy has continually revitalised the country’s development to a great extent over the past 40 years and has become the most distinctive feature of today’s China. The Chinese manufacturing industry is now essentially open. Access to the service sector has been steadily facilitated, and the opening up of the financial sector has also been accelerated. At the G20 Summit in Osaka, President Xi announced a series of key measures for moving forward with liberalisation. The first one is to further liberalise the market: foreign investments will be granted national treatment prior to market access and administered with the negative list, which will in turn be further ‘streamlined’. Moreover, the agricultural, mining, manufacturing and service sectors will be further liberalised. The second is to promote imports. With this in mind, we will be holding the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) this November. Thirdly, the new investment law with applicable regulations will enter into force on 1 January 2020, which will result in an improved investment environment and better protection of intellectual property rights. The fourth measure is for all registered companies in China to be treated equally and fairly. As a fifth measure, we want to accelerate the negotiation process for the investment agreement between China and the EU and the free trade agreement between China, Japan and Korea and establish a regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) as soon as possible.
There are over 5,000 German companies operating in China to date, and they are among the first to benefit from the new liberalisation measures. BMW and BASF have announced that they will increase their ownership interests in China or launch completely self-financed factories. Allianz will be the first foreign insurance company in China with no Chinese partners. Deutsche Bank is the first foreign bank to receive approval for renminbi transactions in Hong Kong. China’s reform efforts will not stop. We would like to take advantage of the opportunities together with German companies to expand cooperation. We also hope that Germany will offer Chinese companies equal, fair and non-discriminatory framework conditions.
At the beginning of the year at the Munich Security Conference, China declared itself in favour of promoting multilateralism and fostering a new type of international relations. What are the objectives being pursued by your government?
The world is facing unprecedented change. In view of the global challenges, no single country can afford to act purely in its own interest, and we cannot ensure complete security on our own. This is why China called for the fostering of a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and the building of a community with a shared future for humankind. China will hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual gain. We want to work with Germany and other countries to achieve win-win results through liberalisation and cooperation, and resolve conflicts through dialogue in order to attain a fairer and more just world order and global prosperity.
The current trade dispute between the two biggest economies, China and the US, is having a significant impact on global trade. What measures has your government planned to normalise relations with the US?
China’s position is consistent and clear. In a trade war, there are no winners. While China does not want a trade war, it is not afraid of one. In 40 years of diplomatic relations, the two economies have become more and more intertwined, to their mutual benefit. Common interests and the need for cooperation far outweigh their differences and disparities. As President Xi said, there are a thousand reasons to maintain China-US relations and not a single one to hurt them. We need to overcome our trade differences through negotiation. We hope that the US, based on mutual respect, benefits and fairness, will seriously implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state in Osaka and stop thinking about it as a zero-sum game. We want to find a mutually acceptable solution by engaging in an honest, open and rule-based dialogue and move forward with our relations with an emphasis on coordination, cooperation and stability.
The objective of the industrial strategy ‘Made in China 2025’ is to transform the Chinese economy into the global market leader in ten future industries, such as electric mobility and aviation and aerospace technology. China even intends to be the world’s leading industrial nation by 2049. How realistic is this, in your opinion?
Our manufacturing industry has achieved great success in recent years. The industrial structures are constantly being improved. However, in terms of basic research and core technologies, there is still a long way to go compared to the leading industrial nations. We have therefore made transparent and open industrial plans to pursue the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry and further increase the quality of life of the Chinese people. There are similar plans in many countries, such as the German initiative ‘Industry 4.0’, which have given us a lot of inspiration. Raising the level of industry will also have a positive impact on the development of the world market and open up cooperation opportunities for even more countries. We welcome the active participation of foreign companies, including German ones, in our development process.
One of President Xi’s core projects is to develop an ‘ecological civilisation’. Which concrete measures can you tell us about?
Everyone in China is familiar with these words of President Xi: green mountains and clear water are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver. People today want environmental protection and not just food and clothing; they want ecology on top of survival. China will no longer follow the ‘pollute first, then clean it up’ principle. Instead, we will focus on saving resources and protecting the environment in order to ensure an innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all. The building of an ecological civilisation and a beautiful China were enshrined in the Chinese constitution, and we are working across the country to reconcile environmental protection and economic development and transform ecological benefits into economic benefits for the good of our people. For example, environmental remediation was carried out in ten thousand villages in the province of Zhejiang. Around a thousand of them already serve as models, and the project received the Champions of the Earth Award of the UN Environment Programme.
China currently supports ‘Education for All’. What is this about, and how are China and Germany cooperating on education?
China is now working faster to modernise the education system and providing gradual support for general education, especially in rural areas. With 99.95 per cent of all school-age children currently attending school, China has reached the average level of high-income countries. Germany was the first Western industrialised country to start school cooperation programmes with China and mutually recognise university degrees. There are currently around 60,000 Chinese students and researchers in Germany; they form the largest group of foreign students. In turn, there are over 8,000 German students in China, who have been among the top three biggest student groups from Europe for several years. The two countries currently maintain over 550 university partnerships. In addition, there are 19 Confucius Institutes in Germany. A successful cooperation between the Confucius Institute and local institutions recently took place in Stralsund. High-quality traditional medicines from China were brought to German pharmacies for the first time, and Chancellor Merkel sent a letter expressing her congratulations. The Chinese-German educational cooperation programmes are closely coordinated, diverse, rewarding and highly promising.
Cultural exchanges are taking place more and more frequently between China and Germany. At the same time, culture, art, music and film are rapidly changing in China. Do you have any works to recommend?
In terms of modern art, theatre, exhibition and literary translation, the two countries have been engaged in a fruitful exchange in recent times. The art exhibitions ‘China 8’ in 2015 and ‘Germany 8’ in 2017 were the biggest exhibitions of modern art in the respective other country. Books on theatre studies such as ‘Regiekunst heute’ (‘The Art of Directing Today’) were published in Germany, filling a gap in the German theatre book market. The Chinese and Germans have been cooperating on outstanding and innovative theatre projects such as ‘Faust’ in 2017 and the ‘Ring of the Nibelung’ in the form of a Peking opera, which will be staged for the first time in Berlin in December of this year. In addition, ‘Journey to the West’, one of the four classic Chinese novels, was newly translated into German in 2017 and reprinted five times in subsequent years with sales figures reaching 7,000 volumes. The novels ‘The Three-Body Problem’ and ‘The Wandering Earth’ by science fiction writer Liu Cixin were also translated and released on German market. The animated film ‘Ne Zha’, which became very popular recently in China, also received a great deal of attention in the German media, and we hope that German viewers will also get to know this legendary Chinese character very soon.
Excellency, thank you very much for this interview.
INTERVIEW Markus Feller