International

A New Grand Blueprint of Chinese Modernization

Article by H. E. Yan Xiusheng, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Barbados

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, convened in Beijing from July 15 to 18, 2024, is an important meeting that attracted worldwide attention with historic significance. The Plenary Session adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPC on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization, which made systematic planning and arrangements for further comprehensively deepening reform and drew a new grand blueprint of Chinese modernization.

Looking back on the development journey of China, our country has made significant strides in keeping up with the times through reform and opening-up. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has successfully achieved the first centenary goal by relying on reform and opening-up, which remain essential now for creating a new landscape for Chinese Modernization and strive towards the second centenary goal.

The Plenary Session presented to the world that China’s overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernize China’s system and capacity for governance. By 2035, China will have finished building a high-standard socialist market economy in all respects, further improved the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, generally modernized its system and capacity for governance, and basically realized socialist modernization. All of this will lay a solid foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects by the middle of this century.

The Plenary Session presented to the world the key points of China’s advancement of reform. China will focus on building a high-standard socialist market economy, advancing whole-process people’s democracy, developing a strong socialist culture in China, raising the people’s quality of life, building a Beautiful China, advancing the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level, and improving the Party’s capacity for leadership and long-term governance. More than 300 important reform tasks laid out in the resolution shall be completed by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2029.

The Plenary Session clearly sent a definite signal to the world about China’s commitment to expanding high-level opening-up. The plenary session made specific arrangements for promoting high-level opening-up, including expanding institutional opening-up, reforming the foreign trade system, managing foreign investment and outbound investment, optimizing the regional opening-up layout, and improving mechanisms for promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. China will orderly expand the opening-up of commodity markets, service markets, capital markets, and labor markets, optimize the business environment, and make the vast Chinese market a great opportunity for the world.

The Plenary Session further clarified to the world that Chinese modernization is a path of peaceful development. The plenary session emphasized that China will firmly pursue an independent and peaceful foreign policy, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, uphold the common values of humanity, implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, advocate for a multipolar world of equality and order, inclusive and beneficial economic globalization, participate in and lead the reform and construction of the global governance system, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

Chinese modernization has been continuously advanced through reform and opening up, and it will surely open up broad prospects through this approach. A prosperous and open China is an important engine for global development and prosperity, bringing more development opportunities to countries around the world, including Barbados. We look forward to China and Barbados continuing to be fellow travelers on the road to reform and good partners on the path to development, conscientiously implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of our countries during Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s visit to China. We aim to continuously enhance political mutual trust, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and jointly implement the GDI, GSI and GCI, and build a higher level of China-Barbados relations which will benefit the people of our two countries, leading to a closer China-Barbados community with a shared future.

International

10 % ON EXPORTS TO US

US President Donald Trump says it’s Liberation Day in America as he announced his sweeping new tariffs. The new measures took effect at midnight. Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed several of the measures.

US President Donald Trump has announced a 10 percent universal tariff on all imports into the country. This includes Barbadian exports to the American market. According to Mr. Trump, the tariff is in retaliation for the 10 per cent tariff now charged by Jamaica on U.S. imports.

The tariff means American consumers are likely to see an increase in the price of Jamaican goods sold on the U.S. market.

St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Belize, Suriname, St. Kitts and Antigua are among the Caribbean countries that will also see a 10% tariff applied to their exports.

Nearly 60 countries across the world have been hit with tariffs ranging from 10 per cent to as high as 49 per cent. China, countries in the European Union, Taiwan and Vietnam are among the hardest hit. It’s one of the most sweeping impositions of tariffs in U.S. history.

Trump says the tariffs are aimed at protecting American markets from unfair global trade practices. He’s projecting a resurgence in American manufacturing as a result of the sweeping tariffs.

International

China’s Xi Jinping tells top global CEOs to use their influence to defend trade

Gathering of senior business leaders in Beijing comes amid rising tensions with US

Xi Jinping has urged global business leaders to work together to protect supply chains at a meeting with a group of executives including Rajesh Subramaniam of FedEx, Ola Källenius of Mercedes-Benz and Georges Elhedery of HSBC.

Amid a deepening trade war with the US, the Chinese leader told the group of more than 40 business leaders, which also included Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, Miguel Ángel López Borrego of Thyssenkrupp and Amin Nasser of Saudi Aramco, that foreign business leaders should resist behaviours that “turn back the clock” on history.

“We hope everyone can take a broad and long-term view . . . and not blindly follow actions that disrupt the security and stability of global industrial chains and supply chains, but instead contribute more positive energy and certainty to global development,” Xi told the gathering in Beijing on Friday.

The event at the Great Hall of the People marked the second consecutive year that Xi held a carefully staged meeting with foreign chief executives in the Chinese capital. Last year’s event was held exclusively with US business leaders.

The meeting came at the conclusion of a busy week for Chinese policymakers, who are trying to strengthen relations with international business amid rising tensions with US President Donald Trump’s administration.

China’s premier annual CEO conference, the China Development Forum, was held in Beijing this week, followed by the Boao Forum for Asia in the tropical resort island of Hainan. Beijing is seeking to promote itself as a bastion of stability in global trade in contrast to the US, where Trump has launched successive waves of tariffs on products from aluminium to cars. The president has vowed widespread, reciprocal duties on US trading partners on April 2, threatening further disruption to international trade.

“A few countries are building ‘small yards with high walls’, setting up tariff barriers, and politicising, instrumentalising, weaponising, and over-securitising economic and trade issues,” said Xi, who was accompanied by his foreign, commerce and finance ministers.

He said these actions were forcing companies “to take sides and make choices that go against economic principles”. “This runs counter to the overarching trend of open markets,” he said. He added that foreign enterprises, especially multinational corporations, had “considerable international influence”.

“We hope everyone will . . . resist regressive moves that turn back the clock,” Xi said. “Together, we must safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains. “Decoupling and severing ties harms others without benefiting oneself; it leads nowhere.”

International

US to Negotiate with Regional Governments on Hiring of Cuban Doctors

US special envoy to the Caribbean and Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, says the United States intends to negotiate a mechanism with Caribbean governments regarding the hiring of Cuban doctors.

The US has threatened visa restrictions for nations who benefit from Cuban medical missions. They deem the programme as a form of forced labour and trafficking on the part of the Cuban government.

Several countries in the Caribbean rely heavily on Cuban medical missions to supplement local staff.

The special envoy says the US wants a united voice against human trafficking, in favour of international labour laws. He says they look forward to reaching a deal that allows Caribbean governments to directly hire Cuban doctors.