Cheng Siwei, a senior Chinese lawmaker, stressed Friday in New York the need for better understanding and closer cooperation between China and the rest of the world in the context of economic globalization.

Addressing the 2005 conference on global entrepreneurship and economic development for Asia and the United States, Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) said China needs the world and the world also needs China.

He said that China's recent experience showed that opening up and reform are the two wheels pushing forward the rapid growth of China's economy. Further opening up has become a must for China, as the country needs to get integrated into the tide of economic globalization in the world.

On the other hand, the world also needs China, a fairly large economic entity with the third largest foreign trade and the second largest foreign exchange reserve, he added.

China's membership in the WTO helps strengthen the voice of the developing world, address the irrationality of rules formulation dominated by developed countries, he noted.

Besides, China must understand the world, and vice versa, the senior legislator said, noting that China needs to learn about market economy, especially its features, history and the experience, practice, organization modalities and management modes of western market economies.

However, the world must also understand China, the biggest developing country with 1.3 billion people, a country still in transition from the traditional economy of central planning to socialist market economy, Cheng said.

China should cooperate with the world, Cheng said, and the world should also cooperate with China. He noted that China has taken a serious and responsible attitude toward its WTO membership and has done a great deal over the past three years, including efforts at amending and revising laws and regulations, improving trade balance and cutting tariff by a large margin.

He urged people of vision from all countries to strive for consensus on fundamental trade issues by engaging in in-depth consultations and making necessary compromises, so as to achieve a win-for-all situation and promote the common prosperity and economic growth of the world.

The one-day seminar was sponsored by Asian American/Asian Research Institute under the City University of New York in collaboration with Committee of 100, Chinese Association for Science and Business and other groups.

Cheng arrived at New York on Thursday. In addition to Friday's seminar in New York, he will go to Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University for academic exchanges with US scholars, officials and business people. 
 

Source: People's Daily Online