By Aerol B. Patena | Phillippines News Agency
THE Asean region should pursue trade relations with China as it contributes significantly to global economic development.
Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Economics Department Head Prof. Federico Macaranas said China is now emerging as the largest trading partner in the world, as it pursues closer economic ties with Asia and Europe with the implementation of the Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative.
Macaranas sees China increasing its presence in the Western market through energy and transportation infrastructure. It has also been integrated to the global economy through the proliferation of its special economic zones and entering into free-trade agreements to attract foreign direct investments in the country.
Japan, Korea and Asean are some of the top destinations for Chinese exports. “Asean has seen [an] increase in Chinese exports in recent years,” the economist stated in his address at an economic seminar, titled China’s Economy in Global Context at the AIM Conference Center in Makati City on Thursday afternoon.
The Silk Road Economic Belt focuses on bringing together China, Central Asia, Russia and Baltic states in the Europe; linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central and West Asia; and connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean.
The 21st-century Maritime Silk Road is designed to go from China’s coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in one route, and from China’s coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other.
“The Belt and Road initiative brings tremendous opportunities for countries for the 21st century. It focuses on building mutual trust and respect, which are basic to peaceful foundation of shared prosperity,” according to Macaranas.
He said China must fast-track internal reforms in its economy through financial-market liberalization, investment in renewable energy and green technologies, and efficiency of tax collection and management, among others.
Meanwhile, Prof. Zhang Yuyan of the China Academy of Social Sciences assured trading partners that there is no hidden agenda behind the Belt and Road initiative.
“The export of production and construction capacity is not only in the interest of China but also in the interest of those countries whose financial resources and infrastructure are far from sufficient by pushing forward their industrialization, as well as helping to stabilize the world economy,” according to Zhang.
Presently, more than a hundred countries and global organizations have participated in China’s Belt and Road with 30 of them signing agreements and memorandum of understanding with China on jointly implementing the initiative while more than 20 countries have worked with China in production capacity in such areas as railway construction and nuclear power.